


Kiss from a Rose

by MedieavalBeabe



Category: Loki/OFC - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Post-Thor, Pre-Avengers (2012)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-29
Updated: 2016-07-29
Packaged: 2018-02-19 06:27:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 60,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2378204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MedieavalBeabe/pseuds/MedieavalBeabe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,<br/>Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,<br/>And now that your rose is in bloom,<br/>A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. London?

Ash sighed in relief as she finally stood up. That was the last of the labels stuck down to the magazines her newspaper company produced – the ones saying “Free Copy, Not for Retail Purposes.” Being an administrative assistant wasn’t easy in such a big place and she found she often ended up taking work home with her. It didn’t pay that well either; well, she made enough to keep herself fed and clean and to cover the rent and other things the flat needed, but if she ever wanted anything beyond that it took months of careful saving. It was also very hard work, especially since she was currently holding down the fort on her own, following her co-worker Michelle’s sacking. Well, Michelle hadn’t really done that much work when she was there anyway, but it had been nice to have some kind of company in their shared office. Well, it wasn’t even an office, just a room with a desk and two chairs and the sign “Admin Department” on the door, but Ash liked to think of it as an office.

 

At any rate, tonight’s lot was done and she stood and stretched with a yawn, realising that she’d skipped dinner. Not that it mattered, she wasn’t even hungry and all she wanted to do was crash into bed and sleep until six in the morning, when she had to get up and do the whole routine over again. If the city of London would let her sleep, that was. Proud as she was of being British, sometimes Ash found herself wishing that her fellow subjects would be a bit quieter at night when some people had early mornings and late nights to snatch sleep in-between.

 

Then again, she reminded herself, it had been her own choice to move to London, to study, hoping to be a journalist and instead becoming so caught up in an admin job and a small but comfortable flat with a pleasant enough landlord that she hadn’t thought about moving back to Dorset. Added to that, she had had a recent falling out with her family and simply drifted apart from them, so there was really nothing keeping her there, she felt, and London had so much more to offer than a sleepy little costal area she had been born in.

 

Pulling on her pyjamas, Ash glanced out of the window. From her bedroom she had a good view of the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. The whole city, to her, was beautiful; the only thing she didn’t like were the crowded streets, when people walked along in rows, herded like cattle or sheep and being somewhat claustrophobic, Ash hated getting caught up in crowds like that. But other than that she could cope living there just fine.

 

Yawning, she finally allowed sleep to drag her down onto the bed and curled up in her usual ball position as her eyes drifted shut. Her nights these days were often dreamless and she lost track of time so easily in her sleep, so it was what felt like only a few seconds, when in reality it had actually been at least four hours, when she was woken with a jolt by a sudden bang from outside the flat and the sound of a car alarm sounding. Blinking, she staggered out of bed with a mutter of “What the hell?” and then realised that it was her own car alarm that was going off. Snatching up a coat and her car keys, as well as the flat key, she shoved her boots on over her pyjama legs and darted out of the flat, almost colliding with her neighbour, Mr Lewis on the landing.

 

“Is that your bloody car making all that racket, Miss Gray?” he all but barked at her with a wave of his stick.

 

“I am so sorry, Mr Lewis; I promise I’ll sort it right now,” Ash apologised, wondering what the hell could have hit her car with such a force.

 

“You’d better,” he replied, shortly, before turning and going back into his own flat. With a roll of her eyes, Ash darted down the stairs and yanked open the front door. The first thing she did was press the button on her keys to unlock and then relock it, silencing the alarm and drowning the street in silence again. The second thing she did was look around for the source of the commotion.

 

What she saw was not what she had been expecting.

 

Lying in front of her car, pushing himself to his feet, inch by inch, was a man, dressed, as far as she could see by the light of the streetlamps, in what she could only describe as fantasy-medieval clothing. His hair was black, and smooth, and though she couldn’t see his face, she could tell by his movements that he was probably in a lot of pain.

 

“Hey, are you ok?” she asked, going up to him. As she touched his elbow, he jerked about to face her and she was surprised, momentarily, by his classically handsome features and startlingly green eyes, as well as his sharpness. “It’s alright,” she said, dropping her hand. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you, or anything. I’m just assuming that you hit my car with a bit of a bang just now.” Automatically she glanced at the car, which, thankfully, didn’t seem to have suffered any lasting damage in spite of the ruckus it had created afterwards.

 

The man breathed out heavily and straightened up, looking around. Then he glanced sharply back at her, and with a quiet fierceness in his voice, hissed “What realm is this?”

 

“Realm?” Ash repeated, confused.

 

“Yes! Realm! Didn’t you hear me?”

 

“Well...this is Westminster.” Then, seeing his confusion, Ash elaborated. “You know, London? In England? Capital City of the United Kingdom? Any of this sinking in?”

 

“London?” the man repeated, although it sounded more like he was questioning himself than her.

 

Ash glanced over him again, wondering if his fall – if that was what had happened – had done more damage to him than she had originally thought. “You sound English,” she realised.

 

He looked at her again. “Or perhaps it’s just you that sounds Asgardian.”

 

“Sorry?” Then, noticing that quite a few people passing were now turning to stare at them, she decided that this was probably something best left for indoors. “Look, do you want to come inside?” she asked, indicating the still open front door. “Have a cup of tea or something?”

 

“Tea?”

 

“Well, it’s all I’ve got, apart from water, I’m afraid.”

 

He considered a moment and then a grin spread over his face. “Very well, then.”

 

Suppressing the urge to shiver, Ash led the way back into the flat, reminding herself once again that this was the difference between Great Britain and the rest of the world. When something strange happened, or a major crisis like a war broke out, the rest of the world acted in the rational way and began to make plans, but what did the British do? Stick the kettle on and hope for the best. She bit back a laugh at the thought as she led the way up the stairs.

 

“I’m Ash, by the way,” she added, turning to him with an extended hand. “Ash Gray.”

 

Ignoring the proffered handshake, her guest fixed her with an odd glance. “That’s your name?”

 

“Well, what’s wrong with it?” When he didn’t reply, merely smirked, she sighed. “Alright, what’s your name, then? I doubt it can be any better than mine.”

 

Her bite took him aback so much that he forgot to be angry at her as he replied “Loki, Prince and Former Ruler of Asgard.”

 

Ash glanced at him, having read a bit about Norse mythology in her childhood. There was a lot she had since forgotten, of course, but she knew quite a bit about the God of Mischief. “Ok, that fall did you more damage than I thought, mate. Maybe after this, I should send you to hospital.”

 

Unlocking the door, she allowed him to go first before locking it firmly behind her. “What?” Loki asked, turning to face her, a dark and mischievous glint in his eyes. “You don’t believe in Gods?”

 

Trying not to show how terrified she was actually becoming in his presence, Ash shrugged. “Not really, and I’m afraid I’m finding it very hard to believe that one them’s standing in my flat right now.” She quickly stepped past him into the kitchen. Suddenly Loki materialised in front of her, and she stopped dead, whipping her head back to find the hall he had just been standing in empty.

 

Loki smirked at her startled face. “Well, Lady Gray? Do you believe now?”

 

“How did-?”

 

“Magic,” whispered a voice in her ear, and she turned to find Loki behind her. With a confused frown, she turned back as the image that had previously in front of her vanished.

 

By now feeling thoroughly shaken, Ash stumbled back against the kitchen table. “Alright, seriously, you’re starting to scare me now.”

 

“Well, that was the general idea,” Loki smirked, stepping up to her.

 

Ash breathed out, running a hand across her forehead. “Bloody hell, I have a Norse God in my flat.” ‘Tea,’ the voice inside her head, and heart, told her, ‘Tea will make everything better.’ Taking a deep breath, she indicated the sofa in the open sitting room. “Take a seat. I’ll stick the kettle on.”

 

With a soft chuckle at how easy it was to frighten this girl, Loki did as she offered, reclining along her sofa. “You didn’t answer my question properly, my lady.”

 

“What question?” Ash asked, still trying to make sense of it all as she popped the kettle on. Just the act of doing so calmed her a little.

 

“I asked what Realm this was? Is it Midgard?”

 

“What in the name of Gordon Bennet is Midgard?”

 

With an impatient sigh, Loki decided that he had better put in lay terms or they would be here all night. “I believe it’s residents call it Earth.”

 

“Earth? Well, of course we’re on Earth; where did you think London was?” It was a mark of how brave she was suddenly feeling that she was allowing herself to be flippant in his presence.

 

“I’m afraid I haven’t yet had the pleasure,” Loki said the last word in sarcasm, “of visiting your world until now; unlike my dear brother.”

 

Noting the tightness in his tone, Ash decided to stop being so bold as she poured the water into two cups, disposed of the tea bags, added a little milk and then carried both cups into the living room. “Here,” she said, in as polite a tone as she could manage. “If it’s a bit bitter, I can add some sugar.”

 

The way in which he looked at the brew as he took it from her indicated that he had never had it before and she held her breath as he took a tentative sip. “Interesting,” he said, finally, addressing the cup rather than her. Taking it as a sign that no sugar was needed, Ash sank onto the footstool facing the sofa with her own cup and took a sip herself.

 

“So, what happened to you?” she asked, finally, curiosity getting the better of her. “I mean, you hit my car with a bang, like I just said-”

 

“I fell from the Bifrost,” Loki cut in, bluntly.

 

“Bifrost? What’s that?”

 

“The bridge between worlds in the Nine Realms.”

 

“And, what, it brought you here to Earth?”

 

“Obviously.”

 

“Can you get back? To your home world, I mean?”

 

Loki glanced at her. “You ask a lot of questions, don’t you?” Blushing, Ash glanced down at her knees. “The only way I can get back is if Odin,” he said the name with contempt, “allows Heimdall to open the Bifrost for me, which I doubt he’ll do, since he didn’t stop me from falling in the first place.”

 

Ash raised her head. “Well, that sucks. What are you going to do?”

 

“The question is,” Loki replied, sitting up vigorously, suddenly with a new sense of purpose, “what are **you** going to do?”

 

Ash frowned. “Sorry?”

 

Setting down the now empty cup, Loki got to his feet. Ash suddenly realised how much taller than her he was, and she got to her own feet. The look of hunger in his eyes suddenly frightened her. “What are **you** going to do, Lady Gray? To serve your King?”

 

“What do you mean?” Ash stammered.

 

Loki tutted at her. “And here I thought I was making myself perfectly clear. This place may not be a palace, but it will suffice, as will you, even in spite of your rather slow nature.”

 

Ash was about to bristle at that when his words sank in and she realised what he meant. “You’re planning on staying here? Here? In my flat?”

 

“I would have thought that was obvious.”

 

“Ah, no. No!” Ash shook her head, firmly. “Sorry, but you can’t. I mean, I’ve got enough on my plate as it is, and nice as my landlord is, he probably won’t take kindly to me taking on a lodger without his permission, so if you’re done with your tea, then I think you should just-”

 

She was cut off suddenly as, with a strength she didn’t know he even possessed, Loki had her pinned up against the wall. “You know, your chatter is really beginning to annoy me,” he sighed in a bored tone.

 

Ash struggled but his grip was like iron. “Get off me!”

 

“Don’t attempt to give me orders!” He was pressed against her so firmly that she could barely move at all, and Ash was tempted to scream but her throat was too dry with fear. Loki pressed his face close to hers. “I can do such unspeakable things to you. I could have you screaming with fear in a single movement. I could break all your bones just by pushing you to the ground, although I have to admit it would be a pity to scar that pretty face of yours.”

 

Ash felt her eyes widen. “I’m **not** going to be your sex slave!” she hissed.

 

Loki laughed, cruelly. “What makes you think that I’d want **you** in that way?” He released her with such a force that Ash stumbled forwards and landed hard on her hands and knees. “Honestly, you humans are so fragile it’s pathetic.”

 

Ash glanced at him. “Then why do you want me?”

 

He smirked at her. “I’ve heard you make good servants.”

 

“Forget it,” Ash replied, pushing herself upright to her knees. “I’d rather die.”

 

“Would you?” In a flash he had a sword at her throat. Ash swallowed hard. ‘Courage, girl’ she thought, ‘you’re British, stiff upper lip and all that.’ Loki fixed her with a look that told her he was serious. “Shall we put that statement to the test?”

 

Panic filled her. “I can’t be your servant, Loki. I have too much to do as it is, anyway. If I run around after you all the time, I won’t be able to work, and then if I can’t work, I won’t be able to keep this place and then we’ll both be out on the streets.”

 

Loki considered her statement. “I suppose it wouldn’t do me any good to have a servant who complained all the time.”

 

Significantly, however, he still hadn’t lowered the sword. Ash took a deep, shuddering breath. “Alright, you win. You can stay.”

 

“I thank you, my lady. You’re so generous.” Smirking, Loki caused the sword to vanish. Pushing herself to her feet, Ash tried to pull herself together, even though she was still shaking. “Um, if you’d like to follow me, then. I have a spare room you can have.”

 

“That won’t be necessary,” Loki replied, smoothly.

 

“Why, are you planning on sleeping on the sofa?” she joked, feebly.

 

“I was planning on taking your room. With you.”

 

Ash jerked her head up. “Forget it,” she said, bravely.

 

In one swift movement, he had her pinned to the wall again. “You forget yourself, my lady,” he hissed. “You are a Midgard peasant; I am a Prince of royal blood. You will show me a little more respect or feel my wrath; which is it to be?”

 

Ash winced and then looked at her feet. “Alright.”

 

No sooner had he released her then Ash sprang away from him, out of his reach and into her own room, slamming the door behind her as she went. Leaning against the door, she ran both hands over her face. How had this suddenly happened? How had one small act of human kindness, trying to help someone in need, suddenly gone so wrong? How had it all led to a Norse God suddenly commandeering her flat and ordering her about?

 

“You really think doors can keep me out?”

 

Ash jumped and stared at the sight of Loki lying on her bed. He glanced at her and rolled over onto his side, propping himself up on one elbow as he took in her frightened expression. “It’s really quite comfortable here; won’t you join me?”

 

Ash spun around, her instinct being to run somewhere else. However Loki flicked his hand at her bedroom door, locking it. Wondering how she hadn’t seen that one coming, Ash pressed against the door and sighed. “What do you want, Loki?”

 

“I’m not sure yet. Would you care to find out?”

 

Begging inwardly for this to all be just a bad dream, Ash allowed her feet to drag her over to the bed, switching off the lamp as she went, and she sat on it to pull off her boots before curling up again, facing away from him.

 

“Look at me.”

 

It was a fierce order and she obeyed automatically, rolling over to face him, but still cuddling into herself. Her eyes met his for a second, and suddenly, behind the coldness and the mischief, she saw curiosity there. With a sudden gentleness that surprised her, he brushed a few stray strands of her dark brown hair off her face, and she felt a shiver run down her spine, in spite of herself.

 

“You certainly are a curiosity, my pet,” he mused.

 

“I’m not your pet, Loki,” Ash muttered, looking away from him.

 

Suddenly his lips were at her ear. “Yes, you are. Because I say you are.” There was a seductive edge to his voice and if Ash hadn’t been so frightened of him at that point she might have responded with some flirtatious comment. At any rate, she decided against arguing, and simply squeezed her eyes shut, hoping for morning to come and wash away this terrifying dream.

 

To her dismay, however, when morning came, Loki was still on her bed.


	2. Shakespeare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

With an inward groan, and the events of the night before still vivid in her head, Ash rolled over to silence her alarm five minutes before it was due to go. She had slept rather badly and now she wanted nothing more than to get out of this room. Shooting a quick glance at Loki, who had his back to her, she hurried out of bed and shot towards the door. To her dismay it was still locked.

 

“Where do you think you’re running off to?” His voice cut through the air, clear and crisp.

 

Ash bit her lip. “I need to go to work.”

 

“And how long will that take?”

 

She exhaled. “The whole day, thereabouts.”

 

There was a pause. Then she heard the sound of the lock sliding back, which filled her with relief. Before she could open the door, however, Loki was suddenly beside her, causing her to start in alarm.

 

“This had better not be your way of trying to escape,” he hissed.

 

Ash shuddered. “Look, I promise I’m just going to work. I’ll be back later.” Then, feeling that it would be the only way to get a reaction from him, she glanced at her feet and whispered “Please just let me go, Prince Loki.”

 

With a smirk, Loki caught her chin in one hand and forced her eyes upwards. “You’re learning. That wasn’t so hard, was it, pet?”

 

Ash shook her head, not trusting her voice. He released her and stepped back from her. Ash took her cue and hurried into the bathroom, deciding that she would just skip washing her hair for this morning and just have a quick shower before getting dressed. She went as quickly as she could go, all the while keeping an eye and ear out in case Loki suddenly barged in on her. She wouldn’t have put it past him.

 

Ordinarily, she supposed that if a God from any religion or pagan society appeared to her, she would have questions, but Loki terrified her too much for her to even venture asking anything about where he was from – wherever that was. She struggled to remember her Norse mythology; wasn’t it called Asgard? That sounded familiar, and it would make sense with what Loki had said the night before – that he didn’t sound English but she sounded Asgardian. At any rate, his whole presence terrified her; whether it was the tricks, how fast he could move or possibly even the fact that he had threatened her life, she wasn’t entirely sure.

 

Suddenly work seemed like the safest place in existence.

 

Throwing her dressing gown around her still damp body, she snatched up her pyjamas and hurried into the bedroom. Thankfully Loki had vacated it, it seemed, and for a moment she dared hope that he might have gone for good and allowed herself to relax as she pulled on the long black dress with white collar and cuffs over a pair of black leggings and her boots as quickly as she could without getting too hot and bothered. She quickly swept her hair up and around in as neat a bun as she could manage and lightly applied her foundation and lip balm before hurrying into the kitchen to eat.

 

“Mm, black suits you, pet,” Loki mused from the sofa where he was reclining once again. “I wonder how you’d look in my colours.”

 

Ash felt her heart begin to pulse in a panic that she tried to quash down as she swallowed hard. “Would you like something to eat?” He raised an eyebrow, and she added, with force “Prince Loki.”

 

Loki smiled. This was easier than he had anticipated. “Indeed, I find myself quite famished.”

 

“Well, I haven’t got much,” Ash confessed, going to the cupboards. “It’ll just have to be toast.” When Loki looked blank, she added “You know, bread that’s been toasted. With butter.”

 

“You mean like in prison?”

 

“Look, it’s all I can afford right now,” Ash all but snapped, and then immediately regretted it. His eyes flashed darkly although he made no move towards her. Blushing furiously, she stammered “I mean, it’s all I’ve got, Prince Loki.”

 

Loki studied her a moment. Ash met his gaze, even though she was nervous. She was a strange pet, snapping one minute, scared the next and then brave enough to meet his eyes. “It will suffice,” Loki said, finally.

 

With a nod, Ash turned her back on him, although she could feel his eyes boring into her the entire time she was making breakfast. Automatically she brought his first before carrying her own into the living room. Due to Loki commandeering the sofa again, she made for the chair, but he stopped her with his words.

 

“Sit there.”

 

He was indicating the footstool. Biting back the sharp retort that he couldn’t tell her where to sit in her own flat, Ash did as she was told, wondering whether it was to do with the fact that he deemed himself above her, or the fact that he was now calling her a pet. At any rate, she didn’t argue, simply wolfed down her breakfast whilst watching Loki muse over the fact that something so simply made could taste do good.

 

Getting to her feet, she found herself stopped again by his words. “Did I give you permission to get up?”

 

Ash flopped back down onto the footstool. “Now I have to ask permission?” Loki shot her a mischievous look and she sighed. “May I be permitted to get up, Prince Loki?”

 

“You may, pet.”

 

Ash sighed as she took the plate from him. “Do I have to ask permission for anything else? To go to the bathroom, perhaps? Or put the kettle on? Or-?”

 

She was suddenly cut off with a frightened gasp as Loki pinned her against the wall again. “I thought I told you to have a bit more respect in your voice when you address me, pet,” he hissed.

 

Ash averted her gaze. “I apologize, Prince Loki,” she said, stubbornly.

 

“Perhaps you need a lesson in manners,” Loki mused, his breath tickling her cheek he was so close.

 

“Can’t it wait?” Ash raised her head. “I really need to go to work.”

 

Loki released her, once again with surprising force that brought her to her knees. Before she could get up, he had seized the back of her neck and raised her slightly as he bent to whisper in her ear. “Be warned, pet.” His voice was softly dangerous and she shivered. “If you don’t come back tonight, I will track you down. No matter where you try and hide I can find you. And when I do, I will punish you so that by the time I’m done you won’t be able to run anywhere. Is that clear?”

 

Ash managed a nod. “Crystal.”

 

Loki dropped his hand and she waited, wondering if he wanted her to beg for permission again. Then, she dared get to her feet without it. Surprisingly he didn’t stop her. With trembling fingers, she snatched up her bag and her paperwork, keeping an eye on him as he wandered casually over to her bookcase. Taking a deep breath, she ventured “Would you do me a favour, Prince Loki?”

 

He turned to her. “I don’t do favours for people, pet, and least of all for you.”

 

Ignoring that, she went on “If you’re going to stay here all day, please don’t turn my flat over or anything. I mean,” she added, as he stepped up to her, and she felt a shiver run down her spine again, “I just don’t want to come home and find I’ve a mess to clear up. Please?”

 

Loki’s eyes seemed to stare into her soul before he replied. “Very well, pet, you have my word. This place will be exactly as you left it at the end of the day.”

 

“Thank you, Prince Loki.” The words were beginning to feel scarily natural on her lips by now. Without another word, Ash all but ran out of the flat and hurried as fast as she could to the newsroom building. She had never been more relieved to see the building in her entire life as she tumbled through the door and hurried to the top floor with the magazines. The Editor chose where to distribute them to. Then, once that was done, she returned to her own office with a pile of envelopes to be franked and set about sorting through them. Halfway through the day, her co-worker Mark came by with a trolley full of newspapers that needed de-stuffing, and that took up the rest of her day, bar a quick break when the sandwich van came around, and by the time she had downed her sixth cup of tea of the tea, she had all but forgotten that she had to go home to a trickster God.

 

Though she did spare him an idle thought, as she ate, wondering whether she ought to have left him some lunch, or whether he might have figured out how to make something for himself. Hell, he was a God, for crying out loud; why was she worrying about him being fed? He could probably just make food materialise whenever he needed it.

 

It was only when Mark, on his way out, casually asked her if she was looking forward to just crashing into her bed tonight after all the work she had had piled on her throughout the day that she actually remembered her illicit lodger. Forcing a smile, she agreed, all the while inwardly dreading going home. She wondered about lingering as long as possible on her way back, but a short bout of English rain made that impossible, so she actually ended up back at the flat earlier than anticipated.

 

Shaking her hair down from its bun as she entered, she listened, cautiously. For a flat that was supposed to have had another person in it all day, it was eerily quiet. With a mingled sense of dread and unease, Ash made her way into the kitchen. To her surprise, Loki was stretched out on her sofa again with his head buried in her old copy of King Lear.

 

“You’re back,” he commented, without looking around.

 

“Did you miss me?” Ash couldn’t help quipping. Loki answered with a smile but said nothing. She watched him a moment, fascinated by how interested in the book he seemed to be. King Lear wasn’t one of her favourite plays, even though she was a Shakespeare fan, but she had retained the copy from her college days and hadn’t the heart to throw it out.

 

“See something you like, pet?” Loki asked, finally raising his eyes to look at her.

 

She blushed. “I just can’t believe how into that play you seem to be. Are you enjoying it?”

 

“So far.” Loki glanced back at the page. “It is fascinating the way this man plays with words.”

 

Tentatively, Ash perched on the sofa arm. “So, who’s your favourite character so far.”

 

“Edmund.”

 

“Really? But he’s the villain.”

 

“I think you’ll find he’s actually an ambitious young man who only seeks his father’s praise but is in fact shunned because of his illegitimacy, hence his desire to get rid of his brother and rule the land as the rightful ruler,” Loki reeled off, his eyes still on the page.

 

Something about the way he spoke told Ash that she had hit a nerve, like this was a scene all too familiar to him, and she got to her feet. “Are you hungry, Prince Loki?”

 

“Ravenous,” he answered. “What are you making?”

 

“Depends what I can find,” Ash answered, wondering what she had enough of to cook for two people as opposed to the usual one. Hoping for some inspiration, she asked over her shoulder as she began rooting in the cupboards “What kind of things did you used to eat back home?”

 

“Whatever our cooks happened to prepare,” Loki answered, irritated by such stupid questionings.

 

“Oh, well, fat lot of help you are, then,” Ash muttered, slamming the cupboard door shut. Before she had time to start thinking, however, Loki was suddenly at her side and had seized her by the hair. “Would you care to repeat that, pet?” he asked, dangerously.

 

Ash winced. “Sorry, I take it back. I didn’t think-”

 

“Say my name,” he hissed, giving her a little shake.

 

“Prince Loki,” Ash all but whimpered. “Please let me go; you’re hurting me.”

 

“Hm.” Loki chuckled, observing her pain. “You’re easier to control than I thought, pet. Perhaps I won’t need to teach you manners after all.”

 

He released her and Ash rubbed her head where he had pulled on her hair. Forcing herself to be civil, she stammered “How do you feel about pasta?”

 

The look on his face indicated that he had never even heard of the stuff. “Is it edible?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then by all means, make it.”

 

Ash watched him as he wandered casually back over to the sofa, took his seat and resumed reading again. Still rubbing her head, she set about preparing the pasta, praying that he wasn’t allergic to anything she’d put in it. That was all she would need, to incur his wrath even further.

 

“Where is he from?”

 

She glanced up in the direction of the sitting room. “Sorry?”

 

“This William Shakespeare; where is he from?”

 

“Stratford.” Then seeing his confusion, she elaborated “That’s just a few hours North West from here by car.”

 

“Hm. Perhaps I should pay him a visit.”

 

Ash laughed. “You’d be lucky. He’s been dead for about four hundred and fifty years.”

 

Loki was silent a moment. “And yet people still read his works?”

 

“People still **play** his works,” Ash corrected him. “His plays are the ones all the actors want to be in. It’s like you know you’ve made it big, or you’ve got amazing talent, when you get cast in a Shakespeare play. He’s the greatest playwright in the world.”

 

Loki glanced up at her bookshelf. “You’ve got a lot of his books.”

 

“Yeah, well, I’m one of his many fans,” Ash replied, the sudden bizarre nature of the turn this conversation had taken passing her by completely by now. “I suppose it’s, like you say, the way he plays with words.”

 

Loki glanced back down at the book. Edmund’s words reflected so much of his own feelings. “Was he illegitimate?”

 

“Who, Shakespeare? No. But his daughter almost was. He had to marry his girlfriend quickly because she was expecting.” Ash paused. “Why do you ask?”

 

“He writes it so well,” Loki answered, shortly.

 

Ash smiled. “I like to think he understood people. And he put a lot of that in his writing.”

 

She busied herself with stirring the pasta whilst Loki busied himself with finishing the book. The tragic ending somehow made it all the more enjoyable for him, although he wasn’t sure how to feel about Edmund’s death. He supposed that most people would think he had had it coming, because he was evil. Loki found himself reflect on Odin’s reaction right before his fall from the Bifrost. Odin probably thought that Loki had got what he deserved, when Loki knew that it was far from the truth.

 

“It’s ready!” Ash’s words kept him from all but throwing the book at the wall in his bitterness. Without a word he swept up from the sofa, leaving the book lying on the footstool, and joined her in the kitchen. He glanced down at the strange mass of food she placed before him on a plate and then raised an eyebrow at her. Nervously, Ash stammered “It’s good. Trust me.”

 

Taking her at her word, he slid into a seat, watching her fill two glasses with water and bring them to the table. “Sorry I haven’t got much else,” she apologised, her blush deepening under his scrutiny.

 

Loki said nothing, merely speared some of the “pasta” with a fork and tried it. It was all he could do to hold back from moaning in pleasure at the taste. It had a strange texture, somewhere between hard and soft, and felt somewhat slippery to touch, but it was like nothing he had ever tasted before in his life. Fair play to this girl, annoying as she might be, she could cook. Ash waited, anticipating his reaction with baited breath. Noticing this, Loki took up another forkful of the stuff. “It’s good.”

 

Ash managed a smile. “Told you,” she said, before taking a mouthful from her own plate. They ate in silence, but it felt quite companionable nevertheless. Watching him, closely, Ash found it hard to believe that this was the same God who had just moments before been ruthlessly holding her by the hair and causing her to beg for mercy. He was so changeable. In a way, that made it worse. She had no idea when he was suddenly going to turn.

 

The trick, she supposed, was not to aggravate him. That way she could be sure of staying alive.

 

That being said, though, such a feat was easier in theory than in practise.

 

It finally came to a head when she was finally ready to sleep. She managed to sort of tiptoe around Loki as she washed up, not saying anything unless he spoke to her, and then busying herself with a vast amount of filing she had brought back with her, all the while very aware of him reading her copy of Hamlet on the sofa, but keeping an eye on her at the same time. Finally, feeling she might scream if she saw one more file tonight, she clambered to her feet. The footstool wasn’t that comfortable to sit on, but Loki had commanded her to sit on it again, and she had decided against arguing.

 

“It’s getting late,” she informed him, and he looked up from the book. “I should go to bed.”

 

“Very well,” Loki replied, closing the book whilst mentally marking his place to pick it up the next day and getting to his feet. Ash turned and made her way to the bedroom. Before she could pick up her pyjamas, however, Loki was in the room beside her. She jumped. “Um, do you think you could give me a little privacy, please, Prince Loki?”

 

“Why would I want to do that, pet?” Loki returned, raising an eyebrow at her.

 

“Because,” Ash said, trying hard to control her temper, “I’d rather not have you see me without any clothes on, Prince Loki.”

 

What he did next both shocked and terrified her. With a flick of his hand, and magic, she assumed, he had removed her dress, leggings and underwear, leaving her in just her boots. With a shriek, Ash snatched up the duvet to cover herself.

 

“Hm,” Loki smirked, sadistically. “Those boots really do suit you. Perhaps I should keep you like this more often.”

 

Without thinking, Ash brought up her hand and slapped him.

 

The sound echoed throughout the flat. Straightening himself and feeling the sting with her back of his hand, Loki shot her a murderous look, even though his voice held a hint of amusement when he spoke. “The kitten has claws after all, then.”

 

Snatching her dressing gown, Ash flung it around herself and hurtled from the room, slamming the bathroom door behind her as she leaned on it.

 

“Doors can’t keep me out, pet,” Loki reminded her, his voice so clear it was like he was standing next to her, or inside her head.

 

Shuddering, Ash slid to the floor and folded her arms around her knees, pulling her dressing gown tighter around herself. She felt like sobbing, but she just couldn’t bring herself to somehow, so she sat in silence, shaking. The thought that Loki could remove her clothes like that was terrifying. How could she feel safe around him knowing he was capable of that?

 

“Pet, if you don’t come back in here in the next ten seconds I will drag you out of there myself,” came Loki’s voice from the bedroom.

 

Knowing that challenging him would only provoke him, Ash stumbled to her feet and did as she was told. He was reclining on her bed, his hands tucked under his head and his eyes closed. Not entirely convinced that he was half-asleep, however, Ash turned her back on him as she hurried to pull her pyjamas on and her boots off before she climbed onto the bed beside him.

 

“Hm,” Loki mused without opening his eyes. “Pity; I like those boots on you.”

 

“Please just let me sleep, Loki,” Ash begged, closing her eyes.

 

“Oh, I plan to, pet.” She started as she felt his hand touch her head and then begin to stroke her hair. “You’re no use to me exhausted.”

 

The motion of him stroking her hair was oddly soothing and, in spite of herself, Ash found herself drifting off to a peaceful sleep, the rhythm of her breathing soon matching Loki’s own as he too fell sound asleep beside her.


	3. Flatmates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

“Ash?”

 

Ash jumped and spun around, but it was only the librarian. The place had fallen so quiet that she had forgotten anyone else would still be in here, although, as she looked around the room, she realised that they were now the only two people left and that the lights had been dimmed.

 

“We’re closing,” he informed her, kindly.

 

“Oh.” Ash sighed and shoved the book she had been looking at the back of back onto its respective shelf, a feeling of dread writhing in the pit of her stomach. “Ok, thanks for letting me know.”

 

“I know,” he replied, falling into step beside her as she made for the door. “I wish this place could be open longer hours too.”

 

“If it was, I’d stay here all night,” Ash replied, rubbing her eyes.

 

The librarian glanced at her. “Is everything alright at home, Ash? You look like you had a late one last night.”

 

Ash took a deep breath. “Well, I sort of have this new flatmate...that is, a friend-acquaintance-crashing at mine at the minute and...well...sometimes it’s just hard to get to sleep with another person in the house. Hopefully it won’t be for much longer, though,” she added, quickly, not wanting the old man to fuss. He was, after all, the closest thing she had to a friend, unless you counted Mark, although he was more of a colleague than someone she could confide in.

 

“Well, as long as you’re sure that’s all it is,” he replied, before seeing her out.

 

Stepping out into the streets she knew so well by now, Ash sighed to herself. So far, Loki had been in her life, and in her flat, a week and living with him wasn’t getting any easier. She couldn’t believe that she was being treated like a servant in her own home, and all because the threats of being hurt, broken even, were hanging over her like a black cloud all the time. If Loki wanted her to do something, he would “Command” it of her, and any time she protested or spoke back, he threatened her until she apologised, or worse, begged him to stop. Sometimes the threats came with a physical warning; a quick seizing of the hair, a hefty pin to the wall and more lately the iron grip that left bruises across the back of her neck, her wrists and sometimes her shoulders.

 

Even sharing a bed with him was bad, for although he stayed true to his word and didn’t take advantage of her in her sleep, he would often stroke her hair in an almost possessive manner and the thoughts of spending the next day and the next and the next and so on with him filled her with such dread that she had trouble sleeping. The circles under her eyes were becoming so dark that it was taking extra foundation to cover them, and once or twice she swore blind that people at work were beginning to look at her with worry, clearly wondering whether she was being abused.

 

Most days she could cope, as long as she did what he asked and held her tongue, but even then, if she was too quiet, he would demand her to do so. Sometimes he even provoked her into lashing out at him temper, whether he was aware he was doing so or not, and that then would be followed by the threats and the pain. He hadn’t removed her clothes again since that first time, but every time she clambered onto the bed beside him, she worried that she might wake up naked, which only added to her stress.

 

Today things had really come to a head; the way he had used his tricks to torment her so much that she had run from the flat. He had taken to doing this lately, and each time resulted in her fleeing the building for a few hours, taking a walk about the city at night before her feet finally, reluctantly, dragged her back to it. Tonight, however, she had been out in the city for a very long time, at least several hours, trying to stay away from the flat for as long as was possible, but now instinct told her that she had to go home. It was that or risk getting mugged, attacked or raped in the small hours, so she turned in the familiar direction of her street and set off, praying that he wouldn’t be too angry at her absence. The night before he had been rather tetchy about it, and she knew that he had been paranoid about her attempting to run away from him, in spite of his threats against her life. Tonight would probably be even worse.

 

To her surprise, however, when she got in, the place was silent. Too silent. Preparing herself, she walked into the kitchen. It was empty, as was the living room. The bathroom door was wide open, so that ruled out anyone being in there. Crossing her fingers and praying that he might just have taken the hint this time and left, she pushed open her bedroom door, tentatively.

 

No such luck.

 

“Where the Hel have you been?” Loki asked from the bed. His voice was oddly calm, although she could sense the anger there, as well as see it in his eyes.

 

Trying not to feel afraid, she shrugged, nonchalantly. “Just out.”

 

“Where?” His voice was tight now with irritation.

 

“What does that matter?” Ash couldn’t help responding with. “Why are you so concerned?”

 

“Concerned?” Loki sat up abruptly and all but glared at her. “Why in the Nine Realms should I give a damn about what happens to you?”

 

“Well, something’s got you like this!” Ash snapped, forgetting who she was talking to. “You know, you’re not my keeper! You can’t just keep me locked up in this place all day just because you feel like it!”

 

She turned to leave the room, only to be brought up short by Loki standing behind her. “You have no idea what I’m capable of!” he snapped back at her, and then she felt him again, behind her, seizing the back of her neck again, his fingers biting into her flesh as he pulled her head back. “Or do you forget that I could break every single one of your bones right here and now with no effort at all?” he hissed into her ear. Ash squirmed but his grip was too tight and fighting only made it worse. “It would be surprisingly easy, pet.”

 

“I’m not your pet,” Ash hissed, and then she felt him loosen his grip slightly. Taking her chance, she stumbled out of his reach and spun to face him. “You’re a bloody psycho! You can’t treat people like this! You’re not on Asgard anymore!”

 

“That should be **“in”** Asgard,” the Loki behind her replied, and Ash spun to face him. Then, suddenly, she was terrified to see not only two Lokis in her room, but multiple ones. The question was, which one was the real Loki? Panic rose up in her as she caught her breath. One Loki was bad enough; what could this many do to her? “What, pet, are you afraid?”

 

“No!” she insisted, in spite of her racing heart.

 

Loki, in fact all the Lokis, chuckled, wickedly as one. “You should be.”

 

“Look, just get out, will you?” Ash cried. “Just get out of my flat and out of my life!”

 

“I think you’ve forgotten which of us gives the orders here, pet,” one Loki smirked at her. Feeling like her head was spinning, Ash darted for the door, pulling it open before Loki could react.

 

“Just leave me alone!” she exclaimed, yanking open the front door and tumbling out into the corridor. It was too much and she was running before she was even aware of it. Stopping two steps down, she sighed and then sank down on the step, feeling tears threatening to overwhelm her. It wasn’t right that she kept being scared out of her own flat by a malevolent Norse God with an attitude problem. Cuddling down with her head on her knees, she began to sob in frustration...until she heard the sound of a door being opened.

 

Thinking that Loki had followed her out, she jerked her head up at once, but it was only Mr Lewis.

 

“Miss Gray!” he spluttered, his bushy moustache quivering as he spoke. “Will you please try and keep the noise down in your flat? Some of us have work to be getting on with!”

 

Taking a shaky breath, and wishing that he would cut her a break once in a while, especially today of all days, Ash tried to pull herself together. “I’m so sorry, Mr Lewis; it’s just that I’m having-”

 

“Don’t give me excuses!” he barked. “Keep it down or I’ll report you to the landlord!”

 

And he slammed the door before she had a chance to reply. Wiping her eyes, Ash decided to screw her courage to the sticking place. ‘Come on, girl, you’re British, for God’s sake. Your people won the wars. If you can’t even attempt to win this one, then, well...then you’re unworthy of being a British subject. Shame on you for running and crying when you should be fighting for what’s right, just like your ancestors did.’

 

With another deep breath for courage, she got to her feet and made her way determinedly back to the flat. Pushing the door closed, she leaned on it a second, trying to calm her nerves.

 

“Hm, half a minute this time. You must be learning, pet.”

 

Opening her eyes, Ash was relieved to see only one Loki in front of her this time, smirking down at her, the way she imagined a spider cornering its pray.

 

“You know,” she retorted, finally finding the courage she needed, “it’s ridiculous that I keep running out of my own flat because I’m terrified of what you might do to me. But I have to keep on coming back, not because I want to and not because I’m worried about what you might do to this place in my absence, but for the simple reason that I have to! Because I have nowhere else to go! So, you know what, Loki, just do your worst, because right now,” and here she let out an exasperated laugh, “I am beyond caring!”

 

So saying, she finally slid down the door and buried her face in her arms. Loki stared at her in surprise. It wasn’t the fact that she had answered back that had struck him momentarily dumb – he had come to understand that she was feisty, hell, sometimes he even provoked her just for the pleasure of hearing her fight back – but her words. They had struck a chord.

 

‘I don’t have anywhere else to go.’

 

They were more than familiar to him. They were the very words that had echoed throughout his mind as he had allowed himself to fall from the Bifrost. Asgard was no longer home. Jotunheim wasn’t home. Nowhere else in the Nine Realms could be home to him. So he allowed himself to fall into whatever death he had assumed was waiting for him; because he had no other choice, nowhere else to go.

 

Suddenly he was seeing a lot of himself in this girl. Her fears, her indignation, her tempers, her cleverness; they were very matched to his own. Suddenly it was like he was purposefully torturing himself, through torturing her.

 

He dropped to his knees in front of her and reached out, his hand falling, with a gentleness she didn’t know he possessed, onto her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

 

Ash raised her head to meet his gaze and gave him a pitying look. “Is this another trick?”

 

“No,” Loki answered, truthfully. “Not this time. It’s just...what you said just then. It got to me. Because we’re very alike, you and I.”

 

“How so?” Ash asked.

 

“I don’t have anywhere else to go either,” Loki explained.

 

Ash looked into his eyes and could believe him. There was no trace of what people might have called his “silver-tongued charm” in his voice, and his eyes were genuine and honest. She sighed and leaned her head against the door. “Look, you can stay if you want to, but, please, stop terrifying me with your tricks and mind games all the time. I’m not a servant, or a pet; I’m a human, and this isn’t how you treat other humans on Earth. If you want to stay, then I’m going to have to lay down some ground rules.”

 

“Such as?” Loki asked, looking interested.

 

“Such as stop scaring me out of the flat all the time,” Ash replied, clambering to her feet. Loki straightened up. “And if you want something, don’t command or demand,” she added, before wobbling and almost toppling over. Automatically, Loki caught her hands and steadied her. “Thank you. If you want something from me, just ask.”

 

Loki nodded. “I can do that.”

 

“Right,” Ash replied, surprised at how easy that was, how readily he had agreed to it. “And, please, give me a bit more personal space. No more taking off my clothes with magic, alright?” Loki nodded again. “And please move out of my room.”

 

Loki shook his head with a mischievous grin. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. Your bed’s too comfortable.”

 

“Fine,” Ash sighed. “I’ll move into the spare room them.”

 

“I can’t let you do that either.”

 

“Loki, I’m **not** going to sleep with you!”

 

“I thought I’d already made it plain that I don’t want you to.” Noticing that he was still holding her hands, Loki dropped them and folded his arms.

 

“Well, then, why share a bed with me at all, then?” Ash asked.

 

“I like the closeness,” Loki admitted. “Sometimes being away from Asgard gives me nightmares. The closeness helps.”

 

Ash felt her heart soften a little. “Alright, I guess that’s understandable. But we just share the bed, alright? No watching me get dressed or anything.”

 

“You have my word as a Prince,” Loki promised.

 

“Right, and perhaps help me a bit around the flat when it’s needed. Like when I clean or something, instead of sitting reading my Shakespeare books. I mean, if we’re going to be flatmates now, then we should start co-operating together.”

 

Loki nodded again. “That’s doable.”

 

“And one more thing.”

 

“Which is?”

 

“Stop calling me “pet,” Ash finished. “I have a name.”

 

Loki nodded a final time. “As you wish.”

 

Ash held out her hand and Loki took it and shook it once, the way Asgardians did when making a deal. Ash sighed. “And now I can have a cup of tea. Do you want one?”

 

“Please,” Loki replied, and then as she walked past him, “Ash?”

 

Surprised by him addressing her by her first name, Ash spun around. “Yeah?”

 

“Thank you.” Loki turned to face her. “For this. I appreciate it.”

 

She frowned. “It’s just tea, Loki.”

 

“I didn’t mean the tea. I meant about you giving me a second chance.” Loki looked at his feet. “People don’t usually.”

 

To Ash he suddenly looked like a child that was genuinely sorry for their actions, vulnerable and in need of comfort. Suddenly she could feel nothing but pity and emotional empathy for him. Taking a step towards him, she folded him in a hug which surprised him so much that it took a moment for him to respond.

 

“What’s this for?” he couldn’t help asking. Not that he was complaining. When was the last time someone had held him like this? It had probably been Frigga, back when he was a boy; he couldn’t remember anything since then. Her hold was so warm and welcoming that he allowed his eyes to close as he finally moved his arms to return her embrace.

 

“You just looked like you needed it,” Ash replied. Then, a moment later she thought to add “But don’t go getting any ideas. It’s just a hug.”

 

Loki smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of it, Lady Gray.”

 

“Stop it,” she insisted. “It’s Ash.”

 

“Very well, then. Ash. I suppose I’ll have to get used to that.”

 

Ash smiled herself as she finally let go of him. “If I can get used to having a Norse God as a flatmate, you can get used to calling me by the right name, Loki of Asgard.”

 

Turning, she made her way into the kitchen, satisfied in knowledge that she might have finally made a breakthrough with him. Where they went from here was anyone’s guess, but, for now, she was perfectly contented to let Loki stand by the table and watch in fascination, although he didn’t show it, as she padded about the kitchen, making tea for two.


	4. Tag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

Somehow, Ash would never know how exactly, but somehow they managed to settle into a comfortable routine. To her surprise, Loki did what she had asked of him almost in an instant. Though she had believed his promises, she had expected that it would take him some time to do what he was told, but no. He never once removed her clothes with magic, although he did threaten to once when she dared challenge him during a debate about one of the characters in a book he was reading, but he didn’t actually do it when she threatened not to feed him that night, so all was well there. If he wanted something, he asked her for it, tentatively at first, like he wasn’t sure she would give it to him, and then with a little more confidence, but always followed with a “Please?” and sometimes the occasional look she called his “puppy-dog expression” and never a demand. Nor did he attempt to hurt her physically for any reason at all, and though she suspected that he often used his magic to help her around the flat – for whenever she came back from work it was always as clean as if she had just scrubbed it from top to bottom herself – she was grateful that he was being a good flatmate now. 

Loki, for his part, found himself slipping into the role as easily as slipping into his clothes. Each morning he would follow Ash after she woke early into the kitchen, they would eat, then she would ready herself and leave for work, allowing him the remainder of the day to do as he pleased in the flat, until she came back. This usually consisted of reading whatever on her bookshelf happened to attract his attention that day, and then, about ten minutes before she was due home, he would use his magic to clean the place spotless for her, leaving her then with nothing to do but cook for them both. Then, after dinner, he would watch her work, surprised by the general amount of work she usually brought home with her. She seemed to like having someone to talk to now as she finished everything off, so these points in the evening generally consisted of them exchanging stories of some form or another. He quickly came to learn about what she actually did for a living, as well as the people she worked for and with, and later some of her background, her family home back in Dorset, her likes and dislikes, her school days. In turn he told her as much about Asgard and his own...for want of a better word, family, as he was comfortable with divulging to her, and she listened with fascination to his stories of battles and conflicts within the Nine Realms. 

To his surprise, the more time Loki spent with her, the more time he found himself actually liking her. Though at first he had found her somewhat irritating, the more he got to know her, the more interested he became in her. She was, he decided, surprisingly good company, even if she wasn’t around very much during the day. Sometimes at night, though, when she was fast asleep, he would watch her, listen to the rhythm of her breathing as his eyes traced every feature of her, though not in a perverse way. He just found her fascinating, more so than he had imaged, considering that she was a Midgardian. 

It was just a pity they didn’t get more time together, he reflected one evening after she had quite literally tumbled into bed and fallen asleep instantly curled up in a ball, worn out by the amount of filing she had had to do after work. She could be quite fun to play with. If only she didn’t have to keep going to that job. Surely there had to be some way they could spend the whole day together.

To his surprise, however, the chance came sooner than anticipated, as the following morning he woke up to find himself alone in the bed. Frowning, he raised his head, wondering why he hadn’t been woken by that infernal alarm she insisted on setting so early in the morning, and then, glancing at the sky, realised it was probably a lot later than her usual wake up time. 

“Ash?” he muttered, brushing his fringe out of his eyes and blinking, wondering whether he was dreaming. No, she wasn’t in the room. A sudden panic filled him. Had something happened to her; something he had slept right through, somehow? Had she been abducted? He felt rage surge through his veins as he scrambled out of bed. If Odin had done anything to her-

“Loki, do you-?” Ash broke off, seeing that he was up. “Oh, you’re awake.”

Not wanting her to see just how worried he had actually been, or how relieved he actually was to see her, Loki allowed himself to breathe out and tried to pull himself together. “Do I, what?” he asked, running a slightly shaking hand through his hair. 

“Are you ok?” Ash stepped up to him, although she didn’t dare touch him, worried that he might snap. He certainly seemed tense. 

“I’m fine,” Loki insisted. “What were you saying?”

“I was asking if you want a cup of tea.”

He frowned at her. “Shouldn’t you be in work now?”

Ash laughed. “I should hope not! It’s Saturday!” Then, seeing his confusion, she added “You know, the weekend. Hardly anyone works at the weekend.”

“Oh.” Finally calmed down, Loki realised what this meant. “So...you’re going to stay here today?”

“Well, for the morning, anyway. I’m going to need to go out later.” Ash turned and made her way back to the kitchen. “Sorry, did you say you wanted tea?”

“Yes, please.” Loki followed her into the kitchen, magicking himself back into his clothes as he went, and mentally kicking himself for panicking so much over something so trivial. It was just, well, he had been alarmed by suddenly not being so close to her without her having woken him first. He hadn’t been lying when he had told her that he enjoyed the closeness, or that sharing a bed usually warded away the nightmares. 

Ash looked over at him again. “Are you sure you’re ok? You look like you just saw something that frightened you.”

In spite of himself, Loki flushed. “I just...” He gave in. The way she was looking at him, how could he not? Looking at his feet, he finished, lamely, “I didn’t know where you were.”

Ash blinked at him, not sure whether to laugh or feel sorry for him. In the end, she did both. “Hey, it’s ok,” she laughed, going up to him and daring to hug him this time. “I’d have woken you if I’d know you were going to worry so much. I just thought you needed your sleep.”

Loki managed to return her hug and then wriggled free of her grip, trying to hang onto what dignity he had left. Ash grinned at him and then went back to making tea. “I’ll go out later,” she added, pulling four slices of bread from the breadbin, “so we can have something a bit more exciting than just toast for breakfast. I know it gets boring after a while.”

Leaning thoughtfully against the counter, Loki was suddenly struck by a sudden idea. Waving a hand at her kitchen table, he quickly tapped into her mind, mentally learning what it was that she planned to buy that afternoon and caused it all to appear in a flash of plastic bags. Ash whipped her head around and stared at him. “What the-?”

“Magic, remember?” Loki waved his hand at her, emitting a nervous laugh from the girl as she went to examine what he had bought. “I trust I didn’t forget anything?”

“No.” Ash frowned at him. “It’s all here. Everything I was planning to – Loki, did you read my mind?”

He fixed her with a mischievous look. “Maybe.” 

Shaking her head, Ash began to put things away. “Well, thanks, Loki. At least now I didn’t have to drag bags up those stairs.”

“So you can stay at home all day, then?” Try as he might, he couldn’t disguise the eagerness in his voice, and Ash raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Loki, are you after something?”

He stepped up to her. “I want to play a game. With you. And you never have time to do so when you’re at work.”

“A game?” Ash folded her arms. “What, you mean like Tag or something?”

“Tag? Yes, I like the sound of that. How do you play it?”

Ash smiled. “Well, it’s best of you play it outside.”

“Then let’s go outside.”

“Loki, I have work to do. I’ve got all these envelopes to-”

She was cut off as Loki waved a hand at her work-pile and the envelopes immediately addressed themselves. Ash glanced at him as he grinned at her. “Now you’ve got no excuse to stay indoors.”

“Well, I’m not going out with you when you’re dressed like that,” Ash replied. 

Loki looked down at himself. “What’s wrong with my clothes?”

“Well, nothing, but no one in this city dresses like that, and you’ll get some funny looks. And I’m not going to let you turn anyone who laughs into a snail or something,” she added, seeing the mischief in his eyes. 

“Fine.” With a wave of his hand, Loki transformed his Asgardian garments into a pair of dark jeans, an ordinary dark green shirt and a long black coat, keeping only his boots, which could pass as Midgardian to the untrained eye. “Will this suffice?”

Ash stared at him, surprised by how good he looked. Then, remembering how to talk, she managed a smile. “You should wear normal clothes more often.”

So it was that, after a good breakfast, thoroughly enjoyed by both of them, and after Ash had pulled on a pair of jeans, an old blue T-shirt with long sleeves and her trainers, and snatched up her bag and her coat, they left the flat. To be perfectly honest, Ash was somewhat glad that Loki was finally out of the flat; surely spending so much time indoors couldn’t be good for someone, even if they were a Norse god. Though she did dread their approaching game, somewhat, since she had no idea whether the God of Mischief would be one for playing fair, alongside the fact that she hadn’t played it in years and she didn’t really want to make a fool of herself. 

“Come on,” she said, as they stepped out into the street. “We’ll go to the park.”

Loki fell into step beside her, perfectly at ease and taking it all in. To anyone passing, they just looked like a local and a tourist, rather than a local and a Norse god. Ash gladly explained things when he asked about them, like Big Ben or traffic. She likened him to a child in that sense, everything was new and exciting, a curiosity, and she was reminded of her first time in the city, how fascinated she had been by it all. 

“I guess Asgard’s a little different to all this, then?” she asked as they finally turned into Hyde Park.

“Somewhat,” Loki agreed, looking around the park. “We certainly don’t have spaces like this.”

Ash laughed. “Well, they’re not all as large as this one. Back in Dorset, the parks near us were pretty small compared to this, and there wasn’t really much in them, just a few flowers and maybe the occasional duck pond. There were a lot of beaches though.” She smiled, reminiscing. “You know, it’s funny, I don’t miss my home but I do kind of miss just walking along the beach in the evening in summer. It was always-”

“Are you going to stop procrastinating and teach me how to play this game?” Loki cut in, giving her a mischievous glance. 

“Alright.” Ash took a deep breath and glanced around the park. It was pretty much deserted for the time being. “Well, it usually works better with more than two people, but we can still play it. So, ok, one of us has to be “It” and try and catch the other person. And when they do, they say “Tag,” and then the person who was tagged has to be “It” and catch someone else, and it keeps going until everyone’s fed up or too tired to carry on running. And there are variants on it, where sometimes a certain spot can be a safe base, so they’re safe from being tagged until they leave that spot.” She paused, feeling like she was just babbling now, and gave a shrug of embarrassment. “So...that’s basically how you play.”

Loki grinned at her. “I like the sound of that. Shall I be “It”?”

“Um, ok. But no using magic.”

“You have my word.”

“And maybe we can use the trees as safe bases?”

“If you like.”

“And I get a ten step head start.” 

“Fine.”

Taking a deep breath, Ash took ten, steady steps forward and then began to run, feeling like a deer being pursued by a hungry tiger. Loki gave chase and anyone passing by would probably just see a streak of blue being followed closely by a blur of green. Ash was faster than he had anticipated. Still, he would catch her. After all, she had told him not to use magic, and he had promised not to, but she hadn’t said anything about using tricks. 

Ash for her part felt like her heart might be about to burst if she didn’t reach a tree soon, and when she felt the rugged bark beneath her fingertips she managed a shaky laugh of relief. “Base!” she cried, turning to look at Loki...and frowned when she didn’t see him. 

“Loki?” Ash leaned forwards, her hands still on the tree, and when he didn’t appear, she took a step away from the tree and looked all around her. The Trickster God was nowhere to be seen. 

“Loki?” Ash called. 

Then something slammed into her, knocking her off her feet and she hit the ground with a startled yelp. Looking up, she saw a grinning Loki pinning her down. “Now,” he smirked at her. “I believe the correct phrase was “Tag!”

“I said no magic!” Ash laughed in relief. 

“I didn’t need magic. I just tricked you into leaving the base long enough to Tag you.”

“Well, now you’ve got me, you can let go of me.”

Loki rolled off her and they lay side by side, catching their breath. “I just can’t believe you fell for it!” he chuckled. “Even Thor’s too old for that one!”

“Well, Thor knows what you’re like!” Ash giggled. “I’m still getting used to you!”

Loki fell silent, and Ash glanced at him, hoping she hadn’t offended him. Before she could say anything, however, Loki said “You know, I was completely wrong about this place.” Ash rolled over to look at him, propping herself up on one elbow. Loki glanced at her and elaborated. “Whenever I read about it, it always sounded so boring and primitive.” He tucked one hand behind his head, thoughtfully, looking back at the sky. “Like a slower version of Asgard. But it isn’t at all. It’s different...but then the different things are always the most exciting.”

Ash watched him a moment before she spoke again. “You always talk about Asgard as if you’re separate from it. I mean, like...” She tried to find the right words. “Like you never really fitted in.”

“I didn’t.” Loki swivelled his eyes back to her. “I’m a Jotun by birth, abandoned for being the runt and taken by Odin to be a pawn in his plot for creating peace between the two worlds.” 

“Jotun?”

“From Jotunheim. The land of the Frost Giants. I was sired by the ruler, Laufey. And abandoned by him.”

“But you’re not a giant.” Ash frowned. “Are you?”

“I just told you; I was the Frost Giant runt that no one wanted.” Bitterly, Loki curled his other hand into a fist and slammed it into the ground. “Not even Odin at the end of the day. Because I was still a Frost Giant and I would never live up to Thor, his real son.” 

Ash moved before she could stop herself and covered his hand with hers. Loki looked at her in surprise, startled that she was touching him after such a confession. “I know when people say “I know how you feel,” they generally don’t, but I actually do. Sort of.” She bit her lip before continuing. “I’m adopted too.”

Loki stared at her. He could understand no one wanting him, even as a child, but how could someone not want Ash? “You?”

She shrugged. “My real parents just didn’t want to know. Don’t get me wrong, the family that adopted me were nice, but I think deep down I always knew that I wasn’t really theirs. That’s why I haven’t spoken to them in a while. It feels like I’ve been lied to my entire life.”

Loki paused, allowing this to sink in, before he asked “You’re not afraid of me?”

Ash met his look. “Well, not now. I mean, I was, before, but not when you’re like this. I mean, I don’t even know what Frost Giants are like, but I’m sure you’re a good one.”

Loki laughed. “Good? I’ve killed people! I tried to set a Destroyer on my own brother! I nearly ruined Asgard! I terrorized you when we first met!”

Ash shrugged. “Only because you were scared; and I suspect because you’ve always been neglected.” 

She was about to pull her hand away when Loki turned his palm upwards and caught her fingers in his. “It’s nice to talk to someone who understands,” he said, and he brushed the back of her hand with a soft kiss. “Thank you for putting up with me, Ash.”

Ash smiled. “It’s not exactly a chore.” 

Lying awake that night, watching her sleep, however, Loki found himself wondering how this could have happened. Anyone else in Asgard would have judged him at once for what he had done there, and for his birth status. But not Ash. How could he have had such good luck to meet someone like her? Someone so understanding, and wise, and kind, and fun, and stunningly beautiful-?

He felt his eyes widen at once. 

Tag you’re it, indeed. 


	5. Hamlet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

“How long exactly do these weekends last?” Loki asked.

Ash grinned at him over the top of her latte. It was a rather chilly day and she had suggested halfway through their walk through town that they go for a coffee in her favourite cafe’. The walk had been her idea too. Seeing how comfortable being outdoors Loki had seemed the day before had given her the idea that perhaps he ought to get to know her area of the city a little better, if he was going to be staying with her on a permanent basis, that is. So far, the landlord was none the wiser that she had another person staying with her; Loki, as a master of magic was, after all, very good at concealing himself within her flat, and she sort of hoped to keep it that way. The last thing she wanted was to be kicked out of the only house she had.

Now they were away from the chilly late summer/early autumn weather and cosily seated at opposite ends of a small table in two comfortable leather armchairs, both with large mugs of coffee –which Loki had come to like the second the hot beverage had hit his taste-buds – and both with half-read books beside them. It was surprising, she reflected, just how well Loki could blend into London society, almost as if he had been born to it.

“Just two days,” she said, finally swallowing her mouthful and placing her mug back onto the table. “Back to work for me tomorrow, first thing.”

Loki nodded, trying not to let his disappointment show as he picked up his book, Ash’s old copy of Measure for Measure, and opened it where he had last left off. It couldn’t be very exciting for him, Ash thought, spending the weekdays reading, cleaning and basically just waiting for her to come home so that he would have someone to talk to. Still, he wasn’t necessarily confined to the house; he could always explore the city if he got really bored. Perhaps she ought to show him the library, if he loved reading so much.

Loki flickered his eyes back to her. “Ash?”

She roused herself, realising that she had been staring at him perhaps a little too much. “Sorry,” she laughed, nervously, reaching for her own book, the library’s copy of the latest Gyles Brandreth murder mystery, “I was miles away.”

“I noticed.” Loki smirked at her blush. “What were you thinking about?”

Ash wriggled her shoulders. “Nothing, really. Just...well, it can’t be that much fun for you, just hanging around my flat all day with nothing to do but read.”

“Well, I like reading.”

“Oh, I know. I just mean-”

“I know what you mean.” Lowering his book, Loki leaned forward in his seat. “I don’t expect you to be an entertainer on top of everything else, Ash.”

She returned his smile, feeling oddly at ease. But then he had a way of doing that to her. Simply for want of something to say, she nodded at Measure for Measure. “How are you getting on with that one?” He had almost gone through her entire collection of Shakespeare works by this time, and she was wondering about getting some more in just for him to read.

“Well, I can’t quite work out whether it’s supposed to be a comedy or a tragedy, but I am enjoying it,” Loki mused, glancing back at the page.

Ash watched him a while, thinking about how each of the plays he had read so far moved him in different ways, and how he really ought to watch them rather than read them. Then she was suddenly hit by an inspiration. “How about we have a film night tonight?”

Loki glanced up at her with a frown. “A what?”

“Film night. I suppose you don’t have those in Asgard. We get in a lot of snacks and watch a film together.”

“Film?”

“Well, it’s sort of like theatre...but you can watch them at home, on the television. You know,” she added, seeing he was looking even more lost, and she drew a square in mid-air with her forefingers. “That great big black box in the middle of my living room.”

Loki raised his eyebrows. “You mean that’s not some kind of primitive Midgardian sculpture?”

Ash laughed. “No! I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out yourself by now! It’s...well, I suppose it’s what you might call a device for entertainment. I’ll show you when we get in. Do you fancy it? I do have a copy of the film version of Hamlet.”

Loki sat up a little straighter. “You mean we can watch it instead of reading it?”

“Yes. I think you’d like it. That is,” Ash added, awkwardly, “if you’d like to watch it with me.”

He smiled. “I would like that very much.”

“Great.” Ash beamed at him. “We’ll get some snacks after we’ve finished these.”

Loki felt a twinge of excitement as he followed her out of the cafe’. True, Asgard had had some fine entertainment but nothing as exciting as the books he had been reading lately, and the thought of seeing one of them, one had particularly enjoyed, played out was more than appealing. It seemed that Midgard had more to offer than he had originally anticipated after all, much more.

Ash, for her part, felt like a child again as she tried to decide what they should have for their film night. She remembered when she used to do this with her siblings, how they would always argue about what snacks to get and have to come to some kind of compromise, and how there was always one snack that one of them would insist on buying and then never get the chance to touch on top of everything else consumed by the end of the night.

“If we have a big lunch, we can snack later,” she explained, picking up a basket on their way into Tesco. “Now, let’s see...” She furrowed her brow at him. “Should we get some chocolate in?”

Loki shrugged. “I have no idea what that is.”

Ash all but stared at him as if he had just grown another head. “You don’t have chocolate on Asgard?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

She shook her head, plucking a large sharing bar off the shelf. “You don’t know what you’re missing, mate!”

She had used that term before, although now Loki thought about it, it surely couldn’t mean what he thought it meant. “Mate?”

“Yeah. Well, I suppose on Asgard, you’d say “My friend” or something. Mate means friend, basically.”

“So...” Loki guessed, following her along the aisle. “We’re...mates?”

“Well, flatmates, yeah.” Ash pondered a moment, trying to decide which Pringles to get. “Ready Salted or Salt and Vinegar? I’ll get both.”

“You know, you have some strange names for food here,” Loki told her.

Ash laughed, and then thought about it properly. “Yeah, I guess we do.”

Once she’d finally decided on their miniature banquet, as Loki decided to think of it as – after all, they had wine too, and when did you ever have that except at banquets and feasts? Certainly at no other time in Asgard – Ash hefted the basket over towards the checkout and Loki observed her in fascination as she went about paying for her items. Then, as he watched her start to lift the two heavy bags, he quickly waved his hand, deftly, and they both disappeared.

“Hey!” Ash couldn’t help exclaiming.

“Well, you didn’t want to heft them all the way up those stairs, did you?” Loki asked, mischievously. “They’re already on the kitchen table.”

Ash shook her head at him, trying to ignore any looks of bewilderment from passersby. “Just when I think I’m beginning to get used to you...” she muttered, but she said it fondly so Loki knew he wasn’t in any trouble. He returned her stifled laugh with a grin that finally provoked the laugh from her, followed by a small push against his arm with the heel of her hand, the kind that friends usually give one another in jest and a chuckle of “Get out!” To which, of course, he obeyed.

Ash shook her head as she followed. When he was like this, she reflected, he was surprisingly easy to get along with. She just hoped that nothing would happen to change that. For now they seemed to have at least found a middle ground.

They got back to the flat and Ash insisted on putting everything away herself – “I don’t trust your magic not to muck up the system!” she joked, which Loki took in surprising good humour – before she set about making a large lunch for the pair of them. Loki watched her, sitting on the kitchen table, intrigued by the way she could make something so delicious from the simplest of ingredients. Actually, if he was perfectly honest, he would have admitted that everything about Ash intrigued him, but he wasn’t about to do that.

After lunch, she set about showing him how the television worked, flicking quickly to the News. “Sorry,” she said, quickly, flicking to the right channel, “but working for a newspaper I should probably know what’s happening in the world.”

Loki sat beside her to watch, startled by just how much of the news seemed to be about violence and death. “So much war...” he murmured, presently.

“Yeah, but thankfully all in other countries,” Ash replied, casually.

“Countries?”

“Yeah.” Then, with a frown, she elaborated, “Well, Earth’s not just made up of London, or England, for that matter. It’s a mass of different islands, separated by various oceans. Look, I’ll show you,” she added, getting to her feet and reaching for her atlas on top of the bookshelf. Opening it, she laid it on the floor in front of them, and together they lay on their fronts, side by side. “You see?” Ash tapped the two small islands marked United Kingdom and Ireland. “This is where we are; Britain, or the United Kingdom, divided into four countries; Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England.” She tapped each one with her finger. “The rest of Ireland’s separated from us, so it’s a country in its own right. Then, there’s Europe, that’s this one here, and right next to that’s Asia, and then Africa, Australia and the United States of America. That’s where your brother ended up when he came here,” she added, remembering what he had told her about Thor a few days ago. “The wars they were talking about just now are happening here, in this bit of Asia.” She tapped the continent and smiled. “Miles from us.”

“How long has the war been going on for?” Loki asked.

“Ages.” Ash shook her head. “We started it really, I suppose, back in history, when the British kept trying to conquer other countries. But then we’ve always been a bit too big for our boots in that sense.” She shook her head and got to her feet. “No wonder other countries hate us.”

“Whereabouts does Hamlet take place?” Loki asked, glancing down at the map again.

“Um...” Ash ran her finger across Europe before she found what she was looking for. “Here, in Denmark. And that’s Vienna, where Measure for Measure happens; Italy where Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar took place; and then, of course King Lear and Henry V both happened right here in England.”

“Hm.” Loki chuckled, thoughtfully. “Asgard isn’t really broken up like this; it’s more like one entire island surrounded by sea, and separated from the other Realms by the Bifrost.” He got to his feet, picking up the atlas in the process. “Your world really is fascinating.”

Ash grinned as he handed it back to her. “Trust me, you’ve seen nothing yet!”

When it finally got dark, Ash arranged all the food they had bought on the table, poured them both some wine and went to get the film. “Let’s see,” she mused, running her fingers along her DVD collection. “Hamlet, Hamlet...ah, got it.”

Loki took the case from her, turning it over in his hands. “This is it? How does it work?”

Ash took it back, opened it and showed him the disk. “Like this.” She went over and popped the thing in the DVD player before switching from TV mode to DVD mode on the television. “See, the information’s burnt onto the disc, so when it’s in the player, it relays the information onto the television, so we can watch films.”

“How does the information get burnt onto the disc?” Loki asked.

“I don’t know. I mean, I have an idea, but I did English, not Electronics at university,” Ash confessed, taking a seat beside him. “Oh, hold on,” she added as the trailers for other films came up, “let me just skip past these.”

Loki took a bite of the strange substance she had called “chocolate” and couldn’t suppress the moan that escaped him at the taste. It was sweet, but not too sweet, a softish, creamy taste that overwhelmed his taste-buds, and seemed to melt within the first few moments of chewing. Ash grinned at him. “Good, right?”

“Heavenly,” Loki agreed, still marvelling at it. “I can’t believe we don’t have it on Asgard.”

“ **I** can’t believe you don’t have it on Asgard,” Ash laughed, as the film took off, and they both immediately fell quiet, save for the occasional crunch of crisps, snap of chocolate and clink of wine glasses against the table as they were both sucked into the classic tale of murder, melancholy, revenge and tragedy. Loki had to stop himself from mouthing the lines, especially during Hamlet’s “To be or not to be...” speech, and could feel nothing but a mixture of mingled excitement and terror during the final dual between Hamlet and Laertes. The whole play was so brilliantly performed that it was only when the ending credits finally came up that he remembered it was simply a play and not real life.

There was a moment’ brief silence before Ash finally asked “Well? What did you think?”

Loki hesitated before replying. “I don’t think I can find the right words. Brilliant doesn’t cover it.”

Ash grinned at him. “I knew you’d love it. I’ll see if I can try and get some of the others in. I used to have a copy of Romeo and Juliet, but that got lost somewhere at home. Maybe I can find some more of the plays while I’m at it.”

“You mean he wrote more than just the ones you’ve got?” Loki asked, in surprise.

“Oh, yes. He wrote about forty. I’ll see if I can get them all in one book for you.”

Loki blinked at her, startled by her generosity. Apart from Frigga, no one had ever taken such an interest in his passion for reading before, let alone shared in it. Thor had always scoffed whenever he came across his brother with his head in a book, even when Loki had pointed out that it was a far better thing to be brainy than brawny, especially in the heat of battle, and Odin just hadn’t taken an interest at all. But now here was Ash, a girl he had only known for a few days, casually talking about getting hold of some books for him, without him even having asked, or done anything for her in return.

“Actually, the library might have one,” Ash added, thoughtfully. “I get off work early tomorrow; shall we go check it out together?”

His throat was dry and it took a moment for him to find the words. “You don’t have to do that,” he managed to say, in a slightly strangled tone. “I mean...you don’t have to go to all that trouble for me...”

The words failed him. Ash got to her feet and said, casually, “Yeah, well, I just thought you might like something new to read.”

Loki caught her arm as she made to step past him. “Ash?”

She turned to him, startled. “Yeah?”

Loki got to his feet and pulled her into a hug, completely touched by her kindness. “Thank you.” He couldn’t resist burying his face in her hair and inhaling her sweet scent, though subtly enough that she didn’t realise he was doing it. “No one’s ever offered to do something like that for me before; not without having been asked, that is.”

Ash smiled and returned his hug. “That’s ok, Loki; it’s what friends do for each other.” Then, she stifled a yawn and Loki let go of her. She laughed in embarrassment, brushing her hair out of her eyes. “Sorry; that’s staring at a screen for four hours. I swear that’s the longest Shakespeare play I’ve ever sat through; most versions cut scenes down to two hours long, but I guess Kenneth Brannagh likes to be thorough.”

Loki laughed. “Then perhaps you should sleep. And show me the library tomorrow.”

She smiled, glad that her offer had been accepted. “I’d be happy to, Loki.” Switching off the television, she placed the empty plates and glasses in the kitchen and allowed her feet to drag her towards the door. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”

Loki lingered outside the bedroom door until she had changed into her pyjamas, as per her instructions. He quickly magicked himself into appropriate sleep attire and when he opened the door, he found her already cuddled down beneath the sheets, on the verge of sleep. Though, as he slipped in beside her, he was dimly aware of her murmuring “Goodnight, Loki,” in a sleepy tone.

He glanced over at the back of her head, and then allowed his hand to fall gently on it, stroking her hair once in a gesture of affection. “Goodnight, Ash,” he whispered into the darkness as sleep finally took him too.


	6. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

Ash found herself awakened by a sudden thrashing against the bed that caused the whole thing to rattle. Alarmed, she raised her head, thinking for a moment that she was back in her old room at university, which had been right next to a train line and sometimes picked up the vibrations from heavy goods trains. Of course, such disruptions were rather infrequent, and even when they did happen, they were soothing rather than alarming, as if the train were attempting to rock her back to sleep as it passed by with a load of lead sheets or whatever it would be carrying that night.

 

But then as she began to piece together what was happening, she realised that she wasn’t back in her university bedroom, but rather in her own room in her own flat. So what was making the bed shake like this?

 

A sudden terror gripped her. An earthquake? Her fellow university friend had once gone to Japan and witnessed one, or rather, he had slept right through a mild one that everyone else had felt. But then, she thought, wouldn’t everyone else in the building have been roused by it; and wouldn’t there be a lot of screaming and breaking glass and things like that?

 

No, it wasn’t an earthquake; this was Britain, after all.

 

So, what-?

 

And then, as another jolt almost sent her flying off the mattress, she realised what must be happening. Pushing herself upright, and remembering that she no longer slept alone in her own bed, she cast a frightened look at Loki. Their day had been a reasonably pleasant one; she had worked and, for once, not had to bring anything home with her; he had read, moving on from Shakespeare to whatever else she had on her shelf; and when she had come home they had set off for the library together. Loki had been completely in his element, surrounded by so many books, and surprised to learn that public libraries on Midgard were free to enter. Ash had begun to wonder about getting him his own library card, although she wasn’t quite sure what they would do about filling in his personal details on the paperwork (since she was certain that the librarians wouldn’t buy that he was truly a God from Asgard) due to his complete fascination with the place.

 

They had managed to find a great copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, and she had giggled at Loki’s wide-eyed look at the size of the thing, along with several other books that Ash felt might be of interest to him, mainly classics, like The Collected Works of Sherlock Holmes, the Moonstone by Wilki Collins and The Once and Future King by T.H. White. The librarian who was friendly with her had been on the desk that day, and after introductions had been exchanged, he had chuckled at the vast amount of books in Loki’s arms.

 

“Are you sure you’ll be able to read all those in two weeks?” he had laughed, taking Ash’s library card to scan.

 

“I’m a fast reader,” had been Loki’s reply.

 

And yet now, here he was, the man who had previously been so awed by the vast splendour of the library, and so calm and collected all day, thrashing on her bed as though he were being attacked by a thousand...a thousand what? What enemies did Asgard have? Frost Giants? Or something worse? At any rate, all Ash knew was that whatever nightmare he was in the middle of must be a particularly terrifying one, and it was terrifying her, seeing him so worked up like this.

 

“Loki!” She wasn’t sure how to approach him without getting hit by his thrashing limbs, or how to soothe him. In the end, she took a deep breath, and decided to just go in, whatever the consequences, like a soldier approaching a minefield.

 

“Loki!” she repeated, moving closer to him, wondering whether to give him a shake, in fact her hand was reaching for his shoulder, ready to. “Wake up! It’s not real! It’s just a dream-!”

 

She was abruptly cut off as his arm caught her, delivering a blow like a rolling boulder, and this time she **was** sent flying off the bed with a soft shriek and a yelp of “Ow!” as she hit the floor, banging her elbow, shoulder and the back of her head. Still, she couldn’t be bothered with that as she scrambled to her feet. Her cries hadn’t woken Loki, and he was still thrashing around like a man possessed by whatever it was plaguing his dreams.

 

“Loki!” This time she was ready as she leapt back onto the bed, avoiding his thrashing limbs and she managed to get him pinned down underneath her, like when she had used to wrestle with her siblings, and she thought, let’s face it, they had been a lot bigger than her and she had still been able to pin them down. He didn’t wake at her touch either, even when she had both his wrists pinned above his head and was having to straddle him to keep him from doing either of them any further damage. “Loki!” This time it was more of a beg than a shout, and, running out of options, she did the only thing she could think of to wake him up.

 

All Loki was aware of was the shadows, and the darkness, and the demons closing in around him, and that he had to get away from them, but they were so close, practically on top of him, and then they were on top of him, pinning him down even as he fought back, and then one of them kissed-kissed him?

 

His eyes flew open at the soft but definite touch of lips against his own and he ceased struggling, blinking up as everything came into focus. Breaking away, Ash looked down at him, worriedly. “Are you ok?”

 

Loki managed to find his voice. “I’m very aware that you’re on top of me.”

 

Blushing, Ash released his arms and sat back on her heels, tucking her hair behind her ears, awkwardly. “Sorry. You were having a nightmare and I thought you might hurt yourself.” She quickly rolled off him and the pain that he had caused her by knocking her off the bed suddenly caught up with her. “Ow!” she added, rubbing the back of her head. It hadn’t hurt that much, it was more the shock of injury than anything, and she didn’t want to make too much of a fuss.

 

Loki, however, sat up in alarm. “Oh, Norns, did I hurt you?”

 

“No.” Then, seeing the expression on his face, Ash added “Well, you sort of...threw me off the bed by accident...and I hit the floor...but it’s fine, really. It’s just a few bruises.”

 

Loki felt the back of her head with one hand, feeling for a lump or a cut, and thankfully finding neither. “Ash, I am so sorry. If I’d known what I was doing-”

 

“Loki, it’s fine, really.”

 

“Sometimes I don’t know my own strength.”

 

“I’m not made of glass.” Ash looked up at him. “Really, I’m alright. You didn’t mean it.”

 

Feeling a mixture of remorse for his actions and bitterness at himself for having hurt her at all, Loki flopped back onto the bed, and then rolled over onto his front, burying his face in the pillow. Ash pulled the covers back around both of them, and then rolled over to look at him, or what she could see of him in his position. “Would it help to talk about it?”

 

“I’d rather not,” Loki said into the pillow.

 

As best as she could manage, Ash reached over and gave him the closest to a hug she could get to in his position, before pulling away from him. To her surprise, however, Loki reached out an arm, and wrapped it around her, pulling her down beside him. Ash didn’t object, sensing he needed to the closeness right now, and when he rolled onto his side, pulled her against his chest and rolled onto his back so that she was cuddled up against him with her head against his heartbeat, she moved with him, allowing him to wrap his arms around her and bury his face in her hair.

 

“You know, I never took you for a hugger before,” Ash murmured. For a Frost Giant, she noted, he was surprisingly warm. “When we first met.”

 

Loki exhaled into her hair, feeling suddenly emotional at being so close to her. He was a monster, but she was willingly returning his embrace. She didn’t mind him touching her, even after what he had just done to her. And she was so kind it was unbelievable; checking out all those books for him today at the library for a start, as well as putting up with him in everything else. Now she was doing her best to comfort him after another terrifying nightmare; the first he had had in a long time. “There’s a lot people don’t know about me when they first meet me.”

 

Ash said nothing. It was strangely relaxing, being held by Loki, and though she was aware that this wasn’t something that commonly happened amongst typical flatmates, she was also very aware of the fact that Loki **wasn’t** a typical flatmate, and, to be perfectly honest, she felt that right now he needed more than just a little TLC, considering what he must have been though in his life.

 

“You know, you kissed me just now?” Loki said, presently.

 

She smiled. “Sorry. It was the only thing I could think of to wake you up.”

 

“There’s no need to apologise,” Loki replied, quickly.

 

Ash was so surprised by the rapidity of his response that all she could manage to reply with was “Oh.” They were both silent for a moment, and then she dared ask “So...how was it?”

 

Loki finally allowed himself to smile. “I’m not entirely sure. I mean, I was asleep for the most part of it, so I was only dimly aware of it happening.”

 

Ash giggled. “Ok, good. I wouldn’t want you to remember it being awful.”

 

“Well, perhaps you should try it again now that I’m awake,” Loki replied as he lifted his head, only half-teasing her.

 

Ash laughed and tapped his chest, lightly, pushing herself out of his arms. “Nice try!” Loki chuckled as he finally let go of her, and she smiled down at him, flipping on the bedside light. “Look, do you need anything, like...tea? Or maybe a hot chocolate?” She had introduced him to the beverage earlier that day, and he was still marvelling over the fact that this chocolate could be both eaten and drunk, in different forms.

 

He returned her smile. “I think I do need one of those, thank you.”

 

She scrabbled off the bed and left the room. Loki sighed as he wondered again what in Hel was happening to him. Now that she was no longer cuddled up to him, he felt oddly hollow, his arms feeling oddly empty now that they weren’t wrapped around her anymore and his heart racing. He shook his head. No, this couldn’t happen. He wasn’t losing his head, and certainly not his heart, to a Midgard girl. He would not fall like his brother.

 

‘It’s just because she’s a friend,’ he thought, trying to convince himself that this was the case. ‘It’s a new experience for me; an actual friend who’s nothing to do with Thor or Sif or the Warriors Three; something I can finally have for myself. And because she’s a lot more caring than anyone else I’ve ever met on Asgard before; isn’t it only natural to want to protect what belongs to me? Touched,’ he finally decided, ‘that was it; I feel touched by her kindness, and after all, let’s face it, she’s not as unappealing as I originally thought. I’m perfectly happy to have her as a friend.’

 

He was roused from his thoughts as Ash came back into the room, kicking the door open as she held two large steaming mugs in her hands. Loki sat up to take the one she handed him with a grateful smile.

 

“Careful,” Ash advised, climbing onto the bed beside him. “I think I might have had the microwave set up too high.”

 

“You know, you really must show me how to work your Midgard contraptions,” Loki replied, grateful for the warmth emitting from both the beverage and the girl who had handed it to him. “That way I can do this for myself when you’re out.”

 

“You could use your magic,” Ash pointed out.

 

He wrinkled his nose. “I doubt I’d get it right.”

 

“Well, it’s easy to use a microwave,” she replied, sitting up against the headboard and crossing her legs. “I can show you in the morning.”

 

Loki took a sip of the hot chocolate, allowing the thick warm sweetness to soothe him. He closed his eyes, allowing a moan to escape as he was reminded of how delicious the drink was.

 

“You really did need that, didn’t you?” Ash smiled, sympathetically.

 

He met her eyes. “Yes, somehow you always seem to know what people need when they need it. You must have magic of your own.”

 

“Not magic,” Ash corrected him. “Just human empathy.”

 

They both fell silent again, their individual attentions on their hot chocolate rather than each other.

 

“Darkness.”

 

Ash glanced at him. “I’m sorry?”

 

“That’s what my nightmares are usually about.” Loki glanced at her. “Darkness and demons.”

 

“You mean, they’re recurring?” Ash asked.

 

Loki nodded. “Always the same; darkness and then demons chasing me.” He shuddered. “And no way of outrunning them.” He glanced at her. “I think it all started when I was a child. Thor and I were playing in the forest near the palace, and I got lost. I kept shouting out for Thor, but he never came. Then darkness set in and I could barely see where I was going, so I just kept running in the hope that somehow I’d find my way back to the palace again. And I kept thinking that I was being followed, perhaps I was, because there were so many noises and I didn’t know where they were coming from-”

 

“Ok, it’s ok,” Ash interrupted, touching his arm gently.

 

Loki roused himself, realising he was on the verge of hysterics. He took a deep breath. “Probably just because of all those stories Thor used to tell me, to scare me.”

 

“That’s happened to me before,” Ash sympathised. “Sometimes your imagination just runs away with you.” She hesitated before asking “How did you get out?”

 

Loki shrugged. “Eventually Heimdall brought me back with the Bifrost. Of course, Frigga was hysterical, fussing, checking I was alright, and scolding Thor for not looking after me properly. Odin pretended to care too, although now I think he was just putting on a show for her.”

 

“And what if he wasn’t?” Ash asked, gently, hoping that it wouldn’t provoke an argument. “What if he was really worried?”

 

Loki thought about it, and then shook his head. “I doubt it. He might have raised me, but I don’t think he could ever bring himself to truly care about the son of a Frost Giant. They’re all monsters.”

 

Ash was silent a moment before she finally dared say “I don’t think you are.”

 

Loki glanced at her, although he didn’t have to look into her eyes to know that she was telling the truth. “Ash, you barely know me.”

 

She shrugged. “Maybe, but I’m usually a good judge of character. And speaking from a personal point of view, I think you’re just someone who needs looking after; who’s always needed looking after but never really had anyone to do that for him.”

 

Loki broke the awkwardness by flickering his eyes to focus on her empty mug instead of her face. “Why; are you offering your services?”

 

Ash smiled. “I can try, but I doubt I’ll be any good at it. I mean...I’ve sort of gone through the same thing. Sometimes I think it must be hard to love an adopted child as much as you love your own, so, maybe that’s why I always felt like the outsider. You know, I was actually adopted to replace the child my Mum lost when she had a miscarriage. But it’s never quite the same, really; like trying to replace an old coat that’s gone through everything with you and finally wears apart. It’s always going to be strange wearing a new one.” Then, to his surprise, she smiled and ducked her head. “Sorry, I’m just babbling now. Why didn’t you tell me I was doing that?”

 

Loki met her gaze with a smile of his own. “I was enjoying your babbling.”

 

“You’re weird,” she giggled.

 

He frowned. “Weird?”

 

“Um...strange,” she explained, blushing furiously. “But in a nice way.”

 

His smile returned as he reached over her, revelling in the closeness, to place his mug on the bedside table. “I like listening to you talk. It’s refreshing to have a conversation with someone intelligent for once.”

 

She smiled. “Thanks, Loki.”

 

“You’re welcome,” he muttered, trying to get comfortable.

 

Ash put her own mug beside his and switched off the lamp, snuggling beneath the duvet again. Presently she asked “Loki?”

 

“Yes, Ash?”

 

“Would a hug help you get back to sleep?”

 

He stifled a laugh. “It might.”

 

She shifted closer to him and Loki folded his arms around her, one hand beginning to stroke her hair, soothingly. Just being close to her was enough, and when they were both woken the next morning by her alarm, Ash was surprised to find just how refreshed she felt. Watching her swing her legs out of bed, however, Loki felt a twinge of worry; worry that he might be starting to go the same way as Thor after all.


	7. Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

The pages were black, glossy, like a recently painted canvas, and speckled, freckled even, with tiny bursts of silver light, as if someone had flicked a brush filled with silver paint repeatedly against the black, bursting to life through the paper. His fingers traced the numerous constellations as he struggled to remember then ones his mother had taught him in his youth, back in the days when he had had private lessons with her. She had been a patient tutor, never rushing him or snapping if he got something wrong, but always encouraging and gentle, and always complimentary whenever he got the least little thing right. He had preferred lessons with her than with his...the All-Father.

 

It was dark in the room. Ash wasn’t back yet, but Loki wasn’t worried; she had warned him in advance, during her lunch-break, that she might have to stay at the office a bit later than usual, and he was quite absorbed in her old copy of The Eyewitness Guide to the Universe, which he had dug out from a pile of her childhood books on the bottom shelf of her bookcase, books that she hadn’t the heart to throw out just yet. True, they weren’t Shakespeare, but Loki had been interested to find out what the Midgardian perspective on the universe was, so he was lying on his front in the middle of the living room with the book spread out in front of him, taking in the portraits of stars, planets and constellations that littered across several pages. Being Frost Giant and also having magic, he didn’t have to worry about needing light to be able to read, so when the sun had started to set, he hadn’t bothered flicking the light switch but had just kept reading into the evening.

 

So, when Ash finally made her way into the room, she all but jumped out of her skin as she snapped on the lights and saw him sprawled out on her rug, far too lost in the subject matter to have even noticed that she had come back. Even when she breathed out a sigh of relief at seeing it was just him and not some intruder, and when she knelt down beside him to see what he was so intrigued by, he didn’t notice, and when she tapped his shoulder and said “Hi,” he almost jumped through the roof.

 

Recovering his calm, and a little annoyed at having been so easily frightened by such a childish trick, he turned to face her. “You’re back.”

 

“Obviously.” Ash smiled at him. “What are you reading?” Then, when he showed her, she sat back on her heels and went on “Ah. Yeah, I didn’t have the heart to chuck that one. There’s some pretty amazing pictures of space in there.”

 

“How can anyone paint like that?” Loki asked, tracing the stars with his fingers again. “I mean, we have some fine artists in Asgard, but none of them ever produced anything like this before. The stars look so real.”

 

Ash managed to stifle her laughter, not wanting him to think she thought him an idiot for not quite getting it. “Actually, they’re not paintings. They’re photographs.”

 

Loki frowned at her. “Photographs?”

 

“Yes. They’ll have been taken with some high-powered camera launched into deep space.” Ash clambered to her feet, in a rather unladylike way, but she knew Loki wouldn’t judge her. “Here, I’ll show you.” Loki pushed himself up a little and watched as she crossed over to the coffee table, pulled open one of the drawers and extracted a strange silver cuboid about the size of her palm. Flicking it on, Ash aimed it at the bookcase and pressed a button on top which emitted a small, soft click, and then dropped to her knees beside him again. “See?”

 

Loki glanced down at the small screen at the back of the device and saw that she had captured an exact likeness of the bookcase on it. He furrowed his brow. “That’s what these artists did here, then?” He tapped the picture. “With one of those...things?”

 

“Camera; yeah.” Ash smiled, hoping that he wouldn’t ask her how it worked.

 

“How does it work?”

 

“Well, you just point the camera at the thing you want a picture of, and then you click the button on top, and then you take it somewhere to get it printed out, and that’s a photograph.”

 

“But how does it capture the image like that?”

 

“Ah...I’m not entirely sure.” She offered him an apologetic look. “Sorry, there’s a lot about technology I don’t know. But I suppose it’s like...well, you can project images of things, right? Like when you can make multiple versions of yourself appear in one place?” Loki nodded. “Well, I guess it’s kind of like that, in reverse...or not. I don’t know.” She shook her head and Loki couldn’t help but chuckle at her sheepishness. “Do you enjoy making me feel like a fool, Loki?”

 

“God of Mischief and Trickery, remember?” Loki replied, pushing himself up to his knees. “It’s what I do best.”

 

“How could you see in the dark, anyway?” Ash asked. “If I tried that, I’d damage my eyes.”

 

Loki shrugged. “I don’t know; there’s a lot about my kind that I don’t know.”

 

Ash laughed and got to her feet. “Touché!”

 

Loki frowned. “Sorry?”

 

“Touché; it means, um, well, I don’t actually know what it means. It’s just something you say when someone catches you at a loss for words or turns teasing back on you, or something,” Ash explained.

 

“Oh.” Loki got to his feet. “I’m still getting used to your Midgardian terms.”

 

She laughed, lightly. “Well, are you hungry, because I am starving? Fancy a takeaway?”

 

Loki followed her into the kitchen as she pulled the menu for her local Chinese restaurant out from behind the cupboard. “And that word means?”

 

“It means I don’t have to cook.” She smiled at him. “I order the meal and someone brings it here; or rather we order the meal.” She held out the menu. “It’s Chinese; from Asia. I think you’ll like it.”

 

Loki found that he did like it very much.

 

They ate, for once, sitting in the living room on the sofa, sitting at opposite ends with their legs crossed and eating out of the cartons, a glass of wine each sitting on the coffee table and the television on. Ironically, the programme that followed the news was one of Brian Cox’s Wonders of the Solar System repeats, and they both sat fascinated all the way through it.

 

“It’s funny,” Ash mused afterwards as she threw the empty containers into the kitchen bin. “I’ve never really been able to get my head around physics, but I think if I’d had a tutor like him at my school, I’d have passed my exams no bother!”

 

Loki laughed, agreeing that he had made the content of the programme extremely interesting. “It is strange,” he mused after a moment’s pause, “that in all the Nine Realms, things are so different, people, lifestyles, but we live under the same sky. We all see the same sun, the same moon and the same stars, the same constellations.”

 

Ash offered him a small smile. “It’s like when I moved here for the first time. My first night here all I kept thinking was that I was miles away from home and everything I knew. But then the next night, I had a late one, and as I was about to go to bed, I looked out of my window and I saw a shooting star. And then I reminded myself that that stars I could see here in London were the same stars that I’d always seen in Dorset. I was just looking at them from a different angle.” Loki said nothing and she blushed, quickly, and went back to washing their glasses. “I really wish you’d stop me when I start babbling, Loki.”

 

Loki shrugged. “I like hearing what you’ve got to say. And that’s a sentence I never thought I’d hear myself say to a human.”

 

“Oh, well, then I’m honoured,” Ash teased back, and the tension was dropped. Loki went back into the living room to pick up the book from the floor and put it back on the shelf; by the time he had done that, Ash was finished with the washing up and all she wanted to do was flop into bed. Loki had no objection to that, of course. Since that night when he had had the nightmare and she had woken him up by kissing him, he hadn’t had a bad night’s sleep beside her.

 

“Tell me about the shooting star,” he persisted as he clambered in beside her, both in their bed attire by this point. “I’ve always heard people say they’ve seen them, but I’ve never seen one for myself before.”

 

“Well, it happened pretty fast,” Ash replied, trying to remember the exact details. “It was just like...a bright ball of fire suddenly just shot across the sky. At first I thought it was just a plane, but then I realised it was going too fast, and it was glowing too brightly. It just streaked through the darkness and then disappeared, somewhere beyond the Abbey. I’ve no idea where it touched down, probably in the sea; I mean, it was miles away and I’ve never heard of the remains of one hitting London before, but...it was pretty amazing.”

 

Loki nodded, thoughtfully, remembering all the times he had joined Heimdall at the Bifrost Bridge to further his learning of the night sky; how the universe had stretched out before him in a smattering of darkness glittered with bright lights. “Stars always are.”

 

“Mm,” Ash agreed, turning over to get comfortable. “It’s just a shame ordinary people can’t get to see them up close. I suppose I could if I had a telescope, but even then, it wouldn’t be the same.”

 

She flicked off the light and settled herself to sleep. To her surprise, however, Loki suddenly sat up, throwing the covers off both of them, exposing them both to the sudden cold. She turned to him in surprise. “Loki, what-?”

 

“You want to see them up close?” Loki asked into the darkness.

 

“What?”

 

“The stars?”

 

“Well, yeah, but what-?”

 

“Come with me.” She jumped, not realising how close to her he actually was; his face only a few inches from hers. Then she felt him take her hand and pull her so that they were both standing up on the bed. “Loki,” she stammered, uncertainly, and then the next thing she knew the ceiling came shooting down towards them, everything became a blur of rainbow light and then her feet hit what felt like concrete.

 

“Loki, what the-?” Ash glanced downwards and then clutched at his arm. “Whoa! That’s a long way down!”

 

Loki quickly pulled her back from the edge. “Are you alright?” he asked.

 

“I’m a bit dizzy,” she confessed, rubbing her forehead. “Did we just...teleport?”

 

Loki grinned at her, wolfishly. “Did I fail to mention I can do that?”

 

Ash laughed, nervously, and glanced into the distance. “So...we’re on the roof?” She shivered, wrapping her arms around her. “You should have warned me; I’d brought my coat and shoes if I’d known that was what you were going to do.”

 

Mentally kicking himself for being so thoughtless, after all the cold didn’t bother him, Loki waved a hand at her, immediately cloaking her in her warmest coat, socks and her black boots over her pyjamas. “Better?”

 

“Much, thanks,” she smiled, and then she glanced up at the sky. “Oh, wow!”

 

He followed her gaze upwards. Above them, the stars seemed to smile in the heavens, the scattering of them twinkling down in a friendly way, almost as if they were waving.

 

“Oh, with all the lights in the city you can’t see them so well,” Ash went on, brushing her fringe out of her eyes as the wind ruffled their hair and clothing. “I forget how amazing the sky looks at night.”

 

Loki looked at her awestruck face and smiled. “I know it’s not the same as floating around among them like those people in your book, but...” He let the sentence trail away as he conjured the constellation of Orion in his hand and held it up for her to see.

 

Ash drew in her breath in amazement. “My God!” He tried not to smirk at the pun. “How-?”

 

“Look up there.” Loki nodded in the direction of the sky. Ash followed his gesture and a second later clapped her hand over her mouth. The cluster of stars that was meant to be Orion had vanished, as if someone had simply rubbed them out of the sky. Her eyes fell back on Loki’s hand and as the realisation set in, she laughed in wonder.

 

“You’re actually able to do that?”

 

In answer, Loki used his magic to replace Orion and then conjure up Ursa Major instead. Once again, Ash was rendered momentarily speechless with awe as the stars floated in the palm of his hand. “That’s amazing.”

 

Loki couldn’t help feeling somewhat smug about it. Thor had always asked him what the point of tricks like this was, because he could never see the appeal of such things. Of course he couldn’t, Loki reminded himself, he favoured brawn over brains, after all. But had he been able to woo his Lady Jane with such incredible feats of magic? No; he had simply won her heart by saving her planet a couple of times, an incredible feat, yes, but any warrior could do that. Here he was now, though, doing something that Thor would never be able to achieve in a billion years, and Ash was fascinated by his skills.

 

“Do you have a favourite constellation?” he asked, replacing Usra Major back in the sky again.

 

“Um...” Ash thought about it a moment. “Well, I suppose my star sign, Cancer; the sign I was born under.”

 

No sooner had the word “Cancer” left her lips then Loki had sought it with his magic and pulled it into the palm of his hand. Ash smiled, and then, hesitantly, asked “Can I...touch it? Or, will it burn me?”

 

“Hold on.” Loki concentrated a little, working up the spell, and then nodded. “You can touch it now.”

 

Ash reached out her hand, her fingers reaching tentatively over his, and then she stretched them as close as she dared to the tiny, sparkling balls of silver flame. She could feel a small warmth radiating from them, like the flame of a candle, and the sensation of excitement tingled through her body. Loki watched her as she danced her fingers, daringly, over the stars, tracing them just like he had with the ones in her book, and suddenly the smugness he was feeling felt washed over by another feeling, a feeling of simple happiness, that he could cause a human to feel so amazed and exhilarated by this simple act, which, to her, was beyond impossible. With another small concentration of magic, he made the crab-like constellation spin slowly, dancing along with her fingers, and he smiled at her soft giggle.

 

“Loki, this is...” Ash shook her head in wonder. “Well, I don’t know what it is.” She dropped her hand but continued to gaze down at the stars in his hand. “They’re so beautiful.”

 

Loki glanced at her. The patterns of the stars he was holding were dancing in her eyes, giving them a soft, heavenly glow, like the illustration of an angel he had once come across in a book when he was a child back on Asgard. The city lights caught her dark hair, turning certain patches of it a slight auburn hue, the breeze lifting small strands of it, teasingly, and he caught a scent of her shampoo, which smelled vaguely of cinnamon, not at all unappealing. In the darkness, her skin looked almost as pale as his own, yet brushed with a soft pink blush that gave her a warm, healthy glow.

 

He could feel his heart racing as he answered her. “Yes...very beautiful.”

 

Ash watched him lift his hand and send Cancer back into the sky again, before she turned to gaze back down at the city of London. Lit by night, it was certainly a lovely sight, the buildings silhouetted and jutting at odd angled against the star-filled sky. She sighed, happily, holding the bottoms of her coat sleeves, feeling the material in her fingers. “Oh, I’d stay up here all night if I didn’t have to go to work tomorrow!”

 

Loki smiled. “Maybe we can do this again sometime? At the weekend?”

 

“Yeah!” Ash laughed. “Forget film night; we’ll just bring the snacks up here and star-gaze!” Turning to him, he saw that her eyes were shining, though not with tears, even though her voice sounded slightly emotional when she spoke next. “Thanks for bringing me up here, Loki. It’s been incredible.”

 

Loki shrugged. “It’s the least I can do. I mean,” he added, awkwardly, almost losing his nerve as she stepped up to him, “you’ve done so much for me; taken me in when I had nowhere else to go; made sure I’m not hungry or bored...”

 

Ash smiled. “Well, you’re very welcome.” Then, tucking her hands, rather regretfully, into her pockets, she added with a sigh “But I suppose I really should get back to bed if I’m up at six again tomorrow.”

 

“Come on, then.” Loki took her hand again. “And close your eyes this time; it’ll help with the dizziness.”

 

Ash did as he suggested and when she next opened them, they were both sitting back on her bed. Kicking off her boots, gratefully, she unbuttoned her coat and turned to him. “You were right. I’m not dizzy at all now.”

 

“I know,” Loki smirked, already under the duvet.

 

“You know, if I had that power, I’d save a hell of a lot on bus fares,” Ash joked, joining him. Then, to his surprise, she took his hand and gave it a squeeze in both of her own. “That really was amazing, Loki. Thanks for showing me.”

 

“You’re welcome,” Loki managed to say as she rolled over away from him and settled back into her usual sleeping position. The second she was asleep, however, he rolled onto his back and slapped his hand to his forehead. This wasn’t meant to happen. They were meant to be just flatmates, friends at most, and now he was finding himself attracted to her. How? True, she was kind and he liked her, but he had assumed that that was all it was; liking her, in the way that he was meant to like Sif, and Fandral, and Hogun and Volstagg; the way he was meant to like Frigga and Thor, and to some extent, he supposed, Odin.

 

So why, in that second on the roof when he had noticed just how beautiful she actually was, had it taken him all of his self control **not to kiss her?**


	8. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

Loki found himself woken the next morning by Ash, way before her alarm was due to go off, flinging the covers over him and all but tumbling out of bed. His brain took a moment to register what was happening as he rolled over and by the time he had pushed himself upright in bed, she had already darted through the door and into the bathroom.

 

“Ash?” Loki frowned, trying to make sense of it all as he pushed the covers off himself and staggered to his feet, still half asleep in the darkness of early morning. He had no idea what could have caused her to suddenly bolt out of bed before the sun was even up...unless she was ill.

 

Pulling himself together, he made for the bathroom. The door was shut and he was about to open it when it occurred to him that he had promised to respect her privacy and not burst in on her in the bathroom for anything, so he stopped himself just in time and knocked on the door instead. “Ash? Are you alright?”

 

“No, I don’t think I am.” He heard the sound of water running and then paper tearing before she called out “It’s ok; you can come in.”

 

Bracing himself for whatever he might find, Loki opened the door. She looked terrible, pale, her eyes watery, her hair mussed and she was shaking, almost shuddering, violently. He quickly walked up to her and placed both hands on her arms, looking her over for any signs of...well, anything bad. “What happened?” he asked.

 

Ash shivered as she tossed the scrap of loo roll she had just wiped her mouth on into the bin, but managed a weak, brave smile even so as she looked up at him. “I just suddenly had to be sick. I feel terrible.” She put a hand to her forehead. “Achy. I think I’ve got that bug that was going around the office a while back.”

 

Loki frowned at her. “Bug?”

 

Ash made a sound that sounded like a feeble giggle and shook her head against her hand. “Not “bug” like an insect, not that kind of bug. I mean a virus, an illness,” she added, when he looked even more confused.

 

“Do you need to see a healer?”

 

“No, that won’t do any good. There’s no cure. I’ve just got to wait it out. It’s alright,” she added as he stared at her in alarm. “It’s not fatal; it’s just like having a cold or flu. It’ll be gone by tomorrow, hopefully.”

 

She was still shivering, Loki noted. “Come back to bed,” he murmured, leading her out of the bathroom. Ash didn’t argue, she simply ran her hand through her hair with a sigh and a mutter of something that sounded vaguely like “I hate being ill,” as she clambered onto the bed, provoking a smile from him. He helped her settle herself and then reached over to flip off her alarm, as he had seen her do so many times in the morning.

 

Ash frowned at him. “What the hell are you doing?”

 

Loki blinked at her. “Well, you can’t go to work in your state.”

 

“Oh, I know that; I was going to phone in sick, but I still have a pile of stuff left over from yesterday that I couldn’t be bothered to finish.”

 

Loki sat down beside her and shook his head. “No.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Ash, look at yourself.” Loki picked up her arm to show her. “You’re shaking all over,” he laid a hand on her forehead, “you’re freezing cold and clammy, and you’ve just been sick. You’re going nowhere.”

 

She raised an eyebrow. “I thought you’d stopped ordering me around?”

 

He was surprised how much her jibe hurt, but he didn’t rise to the bait. “It’s for your own good,” he said, dropping her arm back onto the covers.

 

“I’m not made of glass, Loki.”

 

“Look, if I have to **tie** you to the bedpost, I will. I can do that pretty easily with magic.”

 

Ash sighed, dramatically. “Fine,” she muttered, flopping back on her pillow.

 

“You’ll stay in bed?”

 

Ash nodded. “Why do you have to be right all the time?” she mumbled, bringing her knees up to her chest as she cuddled up in a ball.

 

Loki smiled, feeling her forehead. Now her temperature was fluxing between freezing cold and overly warm at an alarming pace. At his touch she closed her eyes, and he suddenly felt the need to take care of her, protect her, do anything he could to make this illness easier for her. “Do you need anything?” he asked, surprised by the gentleness of his own voice.

 

“Just a glass of water would be nice,” Ash murmured.

 

“Anything to eat?”

 

“No. Thanks, but I won’t be able to keep it down.” Her eyes flew open suddenly and she sat up. “Actually, do you think you could get me some tissues and the washing up bowl, please?”

 

Loki snapped his fingers, conjuring them into the room for her, the bowl landing conveniently on her knees. She shot him a grateful look with her eyes for that as he summoned her a glass of cold water, and then glanced at him, expectantly. He frowned. “What?”

 

“Well, I’m not going to throw up in front of you. You’re the last person in the world who deserves to see me being sick.”

 

Somehow Loki doubted that was true, but he didn’t say anything about it. “It’s not like it’s anything I haven’t seen before,” he said, truthfully.

 

Ash shook her head at him and then pointedly turned away to empty the contents of her stomach in the bowl. Loki quickly brushed her hair back from her face, making sure that all the stray strands remained relatively vomit-free, and then, seeing the way her shoulders shuddered with the motion, placed a hand between her shoulder blades and rubbed her back, gently. She exhaled with another shudder, breathing deeply, and then looked up at him, apologetically. “Can...can you catch this from me?”

 

Loki offered her a reassuring smile. “No; I think you’ll find I’m immune to your little Midgard diseases.”

 

“Of course you are,” Ash murmured, managing a feeble smile. “I was forgetting you’re a God.”

 

One day, Loki thought, he would probably contradict her about that assumption, tell her the truth, as Odin had once done to him and Thor in their youth. But that could wait for another time. For now he was perfectly content, happy even, to let her think him a God. With a quick snap of his fingers, he cleaned out the bowl for her. Ash blinked at him. “Where did that go?”

 

“Trust me,” Loki smirked. “You don’t want to know.”

 

Ash shook her head again and reached for her water. She took a large gulp of the stuff and then leaned back against her pillow, cradling the glass between her hands. “Sorry I woke you.”

 

Loki shrugged. “I’m glad you did.”

 

“Why; were you in the middle of a nightmare?” she teased, and then had the decency to look humbled just in case she was right.

 

Loki chuckled, softly. “No, I mean I’d rather know that you were ill so I can help you through it. I’m glad you trust me enough not to try and hide it from me.”

 

“Well, you are surprisingly easy to trust,” Ash murmured, placing her glass back on the table beside the bed and curling up again. “Small wonder you’re the God of Mischief.” She gave a small yawn and butted her head against the pillow, her eyes drifting shut. “Suppose I should try and get some sleep.”

 

Resisting the sudden urge to kiss her forehead, Loki took the bowl off the bed and placed it on the floor. “Tell me if you need anything else,” he said.

 

Ash nodded and then her breathing levelled out as she began to drift to sleep again. Loki settled himself beside her, lying on top the covers rather than under them to give her space, even though he was now fully awake. He just wanted to be close to her. A small part of him was worried about her, even though she had assured him that it wasn’t anything to worry about. Was this, he wondered, idly, what Odin and Frigga had sometimes gone through whenever he and Thor used to get ill; whether, in spite of all the reassurance from the healers, just a tiny part of them worried that their children wouldn’t be quite right again afterwards. The rest of him just wanted to make her feel better, and that feeling was strange, unfamiliar to him, and yet, not entirely unwanted. In his entire life, he realised, he had always been the one to rely on other people, but now he felt needed, for the first time.

 

 _It’s just because she’s your friend,_ he told himself. Albeit, she was the most beautiful thing he had seen since the last time he had stood on the Bifrost Bridge looking over the constellations of the Nine Realms, but surely even the Warriors Three worried about each other like that? And, he stifled a laugh at the thought, he was certain that none of them felt attracted to one another, even if Volstagg and Fandral did argue like an old married couple some days.

 

He must have slept, because the next thing he was aware of was being roused by a violent spasm of coughing. Sitting up, he saw Ash shuddering over the bowl and in an instant he was at her side, rubbing her back and stroking her hair until she finally turned to him with apologetic eyes. “I was trying to be quiet,” she murmured.

 

“It’s alright.” Loki felt her forehead again. She was only a bit warm now, so he took that as a good sign. “ Are you feeling any better?”

 

“Not yet,” Ash replied, her body shivering again under his hands as she reached for a tissue and her water. “How long have I been asleep for?”

 

Loki glanced over at the clock. “About three hours.”

 

“Mm!” Ash groaned, rubbing her eyes. “Suppose I’d better call in soon, tell them I’m sick, and then pray someone doesn’t turn up tonight with an extra big workload for me to finish by tomorrow.”

 

“If that happens, I’ll turn them into a snail.”

 

“You can really do that?”

 

“I could do, if I chose; but I was referring to what you said that day we played in the park.”

 

“Oh.” Ash giggled, her voice sounding a little stronger than it had a few minutes ago. “Well, thanks the offer but I wouldn’t advise it. It would raise some questions.”

 

“Have it your way, then,” Loki teased back, swinging his legs off the bed. “Can I get you anything from the kitchen?”

 

“Mm.” Ash looked like she was about to refuse and then her stomach gave a low rumble. Loki just managed to keep himself from laughing as she looked up at him, sheepishly. “I shouldn’t, but...maybe some toast? With nothing on it? And some more water, please?”

 

Of course he could summon them by magic, but if he was leaving the bedroom anyway, it made more sense to bring them to her, so Loki took the glass from her hand, offered her one last small smile and then made his way into the kitchen. He was grateful that she hadn’t asked for anything more complicated than water to drink; for even though he observed her in the kitchen from time to time he hadn’t attempted to make any of those hot beverages she had introduced him to for himself just yet. She had, though, taught him how the toaster worked, and he knew by now that she liked her toast browned but not burned black, and usually with butter spread all around, right to the corners.

 

Popping two slices of bread into the contraption, he leaned against the counter, eying the array of fruits she had bought for them at the weekend and recalling how she had introduced him to the ones unavailable on Asgard. Like cherries. Absently he plucked one from the bowl, allowing the soft, sweet taste to wash over his tongue and his eyes closed, automatically and recalling how he had panicked at almost swallowing a stone by accident and how Ash had laughed, gently, and reassured him that nothing bad would happen to him if he had done.

 

Not for the first time he could see exactly why his brother had been all prepared to swap Asgard for Midgard for the rest of his life. The place had so many wonders that Asgard couldn’t hold a candle to.

 

Like Ash.

 

It was safe to say that she was quite unlike any woman he had ever met before in his life, not that he had met that many, bar a few maids he had bedded, and even then, even if you counted Sif and Frigga, it still amounted to a small number compared to the amount Thor had been with. Sif might be a great warrior, yes, with a similar amount of feistiness in her veins as Ash, but she didn’t quite know when to settle, when to stop being the warrior. Frigga was kind and protective, but she needed to be; after all she was his mother. But Ash’s courage, Ash’s kindness, both touched him in a different way, both set strange feelings stirring with him, feelings he had never known could exist before.

 

He was roused suddenly as the toast popped out of the toaster. Shaking away any forbidden thoughts from his mind, he pulled the slices of hot bread onto a plate, poured more water into the glass and then carried both into the bedroom. Ash was still curled up in a ball but she sat up, smoothing her hair back into place, as he came in and quickly took the glass from him.

 

“Thanks,” she smiled, taking a long gulp of water. Loki handed her the plate and cleaned the bowl for her before sitting beside her on the bed.

 

“Do you want anything else?” he asked. “A book or something?”

 

“Well...you could bring me my paperwork,” Ash said, innocently.

 

“Ash!”

 

“What? I might as well do as much of it as I can. I’ve got to hand it in tomorrow.”

 

Loki rolled his eyes. “I **can** do it for you, you know.”

 

“I know, but if I’m not allowed to get out of bed, it’ll keep me from being bored at least,” she returned, taking a careful bite of her toast.

 

With another burst of magic, Loki summoned it all for her, along with the book she’d been reading recently and then got to his feet. “Just yell if you need anything,” he said, squeezing her hand.

 

“Well, I’ll try not to yell too loudly, or Mr Lewis will have us both kicked out,” Ash smiled, weakly.

 

Loki laughed and then left her to it, busying himself with the books she had brought him on her last trip to the library. He was still only halfway through the enormous collection of Shakespeare plays she had found for him, so he reclined on the sofa with that for most of the day, keeping an ear out for Ash calling him. She did only a few times to request some more water, and each time Loki also cleaned the bowl out for her with magic and checked on her temperature. Soon, however, her bouts of sickness became less frequent and as evening finally rolled around, Loki decided to check on her, since she hadn’t called out for him in a while. She was snuggled down in bed, with her book, surrounded by her paperwork, and, to his surprise, the bowl was empty.

 

“Hi,” she smiled up at him.

 

Automatically Loki found himself tidying her papers for her. “Have you stoped being sick, do you think?”

 

“Probably. It’s been a few hours.”

 

“Do you want some more water?”

 

“No, thanks. I’m going to try and get some sleep.” She offered him a small smile. “Sorry you’re having to put up with this.”

 

“I don’t mind.” And he didn’t mind, not in the slightest, if it meant he could make her feel better. As she set her book aside, and settled herself to sleep, he pulled the blanket up around her shoulders and, once again restraining himself from kissing her, murmured “Sleep well,” before he left her to it.

 

He was surprised half an hour later, however, as he sat engrossed in another of Shakespeare’s tragedies, when the living room door opened and she shuffled in, holding her dressing gown wrapped around her lower half like a blanket.

 

“Can’t sleep,” she murmured, sitting down beside him as he shuffled up to make room for her. “What are you reading?”

 

Loki held up the book. “Coriolanus.”

 

“Oh.” She smiled. “Never seen that one; or read it. Any good?”

 

“Brilliant.” Loki glanced at her and smiled. Though she still looked tired, she seemed to have got some of her colour back and her voice sounded almost normal now. Ash rubbed her eyes and leaned back against the sofa cushions, looking for all the world like a sleeping angel.

 

An idea struck him. Putting his feet back up on the sofa, he moved over to one side of it and held out an arm to her. “Come here.”

 

Ash glanced at him and for a second he thought she was going to ask him why. But instead, she calmly crawled over to lie beside him, her eyes drifting shut as he began to caress her head, stroking her hair gently, soothingly.

 

“Loki?” she murmured, presently.

 

“Yes, Ash?”

 

“Thank you. Thanks for taking care of me today. You’re a good friend.”

 

Loki felt his heart jump at that and he shook his head, the play he was reading forgotten. “Not as good as you. I mean, you’ve...you’ve done a lot for me, without me even having to ask you for it. You’ve got a good heart...I’ve never met anyone as kind and...fiery...and clever, and fun, as you...before and I-” He stopped, realising that he was pouring his thoughts, his feelings, into words, and that he knew exactly what the inevitable end of that sentence would be...what it had been for quite some time now.

 

“Ash, I think I’m falling for you.”

 

No response.

 

Loki glanced over at her and sighed, realising that Ash had fallen sound asleep next to him, and that she probably hadn’t heard a word of what he’d been saying beyond “You’ve done a lot for me.”

 

This time, however, he didn’t restrain himself from pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead.


	9. Worried

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

Ash woke with a start, realising she felt much better all of a sudden. Though still a bit shaky, she no longer felt feverish or nauseas, although she still felt a bit tired, but given that it was now quarter to four in the morning, that was to be expected. Then she realised she wasn’t asleep next to Loki on the sofa anymore, but in her own bed, and quite alone.

 

“Loki?” she said, her voice slightly raspy with sleep, and she cleared her throat. Sitting up, she realised his boots weren’t left where they usually were, strewn on his side of the bed, and the flat felt strangely empty. Swinging her legs out of bed, Ash snatched up her dressing gown and slippers and padded into the living room. She flicked on the light. Both living room and kitchen were devoid of the demi-God. With a frown, she knocked on the bathroom door. No response. She pushed it open. Empty. She checked the spare bedroom, just in case Loki had decided not to take his chances with her illness after all. But it was as empty as all the other rooms in the flat.

 

A chill of fear ran through her. If Loki had gone out, where on Earth would he be at this hour? A tiny part of her suddenly thought _what if he’s not on Earth at all? What if Odin found out he was still alive and took him back to Asgard, or worse, somewhere else? What if he’s chained to a rock with venom dripping in his eyes like in the Norse legends?_ She pushed that thought to the back of her mind and tried to think logically. This probably shouldn’t surprise her. After all, Loki was still learning about life on Earth, he may have just gone out for...for what?

 

She felt too awake to go back to sleep, so she pottered about and made a cup of tea, and then realised that surely if Loki had only left the flat for a moment with every intention of coming back, he would have left her some kind of sign; a note or something? She searched all over but found none.

 

The inevitable truth hit her. Loki had left. For good. And he wasn’t going to come back.

 

“You bastard,” Ash whispered, bitterly, cradling her cup in both hands and praying that she was wrong, that she would come home from work to find him sprawled out on her sofa, head buried in another of Shakespeare’s plays and that he would look up at her and say something like “What took you so long?” That would be so like him.

 

She went to work thinking about him, not obsessively thinking about him in the way someone does when they love someone, but just sort of wondering what could have possessed him to just up and leave like he had without even saying goodbye. He certainly hadn’t drifted into her life so politely, she reflected. She wondered, briefly, if she ought to be worried about him. No, she thought, he was Loki, a Prince and a Warrior, he could take care of himself.

 

Couldn’t he?

 

“Ash?”

 

“Huh?” Ash glanced up, but it was only Mark, looking at her in concern. She fixed her face into a smile. She wasn’t really that friendly with her other colleagues, but she got on fairly well with Mark. He was always nice, but that was probably just to do with the fact that he swung the other way when it came to relationships. “Sorry, I was miles away.”

 

“I can see that,” Mark chuckled, laying down another load of papers to be filed. “Something worrying you?”

 

Ash chose her words carefully. “A bit. It’s a friend of mine, flatmate, actually.”

 

“Oh, I didn’t know you’d acquired a flatmate,” Mark said, in surprise. “What’s her name?”

 

Ash smiled. _“His_ name is Loki, like the Norse God. Don’t ask,” she added, quickly, “his parents had a penchant for Scandinavian names.”

 

Mark chuckled. “And I thought mine were bad.”

 

Ash managed a laugh. Mark had three brothers, Matthew, Luke and John, and one sister, Mary. His parents were rather religious. “Well, anyway, he popped out early this morning for...something and I haven’t heard from him. I hope he’s alright.”

 

“Ah, I’m sure he will be,” Mark replied, reassuringly, “but best keep an ear out on the radio just in case someone matching his description gets admitted into hospital.”

 

“Thanks, Mark,” Ash smiled, busying herself with work again, and hoping that he was right. When she finally left, she headed into the library and was glad to see that her friend the librarian was on duty today. She quickly went up to him as he emptied a cartload of books onto a shelf.

 

“Hello, Ash,” he smiled. “Your flatmate not with you?”

 

“No,” Ash replied, her heart sinking. “I was hoping he might have come in here.”

 

“No, I haven’t see him all day,” he shrugged. Then, seeing he was depressing Ash even further, he added “But if you’re looking for him, I’ll keep my eyes open in case he does come in.”

 

“Thanks,” Ash sighed. “I’ve no idea where he’s got to, although I suppose he might have gone home. I’ll check there.”

 

But Loki wasn’t there, and Ash wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself. She couldn’t face working, so she switched the news on instead, listening out every time they spoke about hospitals or major disasters. But nothing about Loki came up. She made dinner, making a little extra just in case he suddenly showed up. He didn’t, and she went to bed feeling strangely lonely for once in her life. It had been fun having Loki around and she had grown used to having someone else in the flat.

 

Even sleeping was a drag because she was worried about him.

 

“No sleep with him,” she muttered, turning over, “and even less without him. How is this fair?”

 

The days passed, slowly, clock-tick-dragging minutes, filled with boredom, and so many little things reminded her of Loki’s absence; her favourite cafe’, watching Shakespeare films with crisps and chocolate and a glass of wine, going to the library, watching the stars from her bedroom window, even just ordering Chinese when she couldn’t be bothered to cook. The whole place just felt empty without him. It was strange how quickly she had got used to him being a part of her life, and she had never imagined him _not_ being there.

 

Things all came to a head the following Friday. Work had piled on top of her, as usual, after forgetting to set her alarm and almost missing her bus, and then she had been caught in the rain on the way home and had to drag a shed load more work with her up the stairs to her flat; and Ash felt just about ready to scream as she leaned against her front door. Tossing her bag down and throwing her coat on the peg, she sighed as she rubbed rain out of her eyes and went into the kitchen, all set to make a cup of tea. Her hands were still wet, though, and as she picked up her favourite mug, it slipped from her fingers, hit the kitchen tiles and smashed.

 

Ash knew it was a stupid thing to cry over, but she felt like she’d finally been pushed to the edge of her sorrow and the tears were flowing before she could stop them. She sank to the floor, curled up into herself and began to sob like a frightened child. It just felt like everything had gone wrong since Loki had left her, and there was no one she could talk to about it without revealing his secret, and she had sworn not to do that, partly out of fear that people would think she had gone mad and partly out of fear that they would believe her and have him sectioned.

 

And now this; this felt like the last straw of the lot and so she just sat where she was and sobbed...until she felt something wrap around her. It felt oddly like limbs, someone’s arms, a hug and then she heard a soft murmur of “Ash?” The voice sounded so much like Loki’s that she started to sob even harder. “What is it? Have you cut yourself? Please tell me what’s wrong?”

 

“Great,” Ash gasped, gulping for breath amidst her tears. “It’s not bad enough I’m imagining Loki hugging me, now I’m hearing things!”

 

Loki frowned. “Ash, open your eyes. You’re not imagining anything. I’m here.”

 

Ash blinked, slowly, realising that she could more than feel him holding her, she was breathing in his soft scent, she could sense his presence in the air and when she opened her eyes she was met with the familiar green tunic she had come to recognise so well. By degrees, she pulled away from him and looked up at him. He offered her a hopeful smile. “Hi.”

 

“Hi?” Ash repeated, incredulously.

 

Whatever Loki had been expecting, it certainly hadn’t been that she would hit him. And properly hit him, not a slap but a full blown punch that knocked him off his feet, and whilst it didn’t draw blood or break anything, it was certainly enough to stun him for a moment.

 

“You bloody idiot!” Ash cried, scrambling to her feet. “What the hell was all that about? You just up and leave without even telling me where you’ve gone – were you even going to come back? I mean, what the hell?”

 

As Loki got to his feet, she threw another punch at him, this time landing it on his arm. “Ow!” Loki exclaimed, stepping out of her reach. “You hit harder than Sif and Volstagg combined!”

 

“Good!” Ash snapped, hitting him again. “Where have you been? Did you not think I’d be worried that you just buggered off without so much as a goodbye, you complete and utter bastard? I thought something might have happened to you! You are such a-a-Oh!” She threw up her hands in despair. “I can’t even say what you are; I’d have to go to a confession!”

 

Loki blinked at her. “Are you done?” he asked, drily. Ash punched him again. “Ow!” Rubbing his arm, Loki fixed her with a scowl, which softened as her words sank in. “You were _worried_ about me?”

 

“Of course I was worried about you, you barmpot!” For emphasis, she hit him again, although he noticed it was a feebler punch than before, even though she was still angry. “You’re a Norse God and you were loose in London! I thought you might get killed, or worse, I thought Odin might have found you!” Taking a deep breath, she added “Did I do something wrong? Is that why you left?”

 

“Ash...” Though he was still worried that she might hit him again, Loki decided to take his chances and placed both hands on her arms. “No,” he said, resisting the urge to use the term “love” or “darling” in the same sentence. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

 

“Then why did you just bugger off like that?” Ash demanded.

 

“I was giving you some space,” Loki answered, honestly.

 

She frowned at him. “Space?”

 

Loki nodded, slowly. “I know I’ve made your life miserable so I thought I’d do you a favour.”

 

Ash stared at him. “Loki, do you not realise how incredibly boring my life was until you came along?” Then she hit him again. “You know, you are something else, you really are! When I tell you to get lost, you stay put, but the second I decide that I actually _want_ you to stay, you leave! I mean,” she added, running a hand through her hair, “were you dropped on your head at birth or something?”

 

Loki frowned. “Wait, you want me to stay?”

 

“I’d have thought that was obvious!” Ash cried. “I mean, for crying out loud, I let you sleep in my bed! Don’t you think I would have kicked you out by now if I didn’t want you here?”

 

“I thought that was because you didn’t have a choice,” Loki couldn’t help quipping.

 

“Loki.” Ash sighed. “Truth be told you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. I don’t want you to leave. I’ve kind of got used to having you around. You know it’s nice having someone here when I get home from work, someone I can say “Oh, you wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had,” to and...just someone to...have a cup of tea with or talk about books with.” She leaned against the kitchen table and folded her arms. “I mean, I didn’t want to become your friend when I first met you, it just sort of happened, but, now I’m kind of glad it did.”

 

Loki smiled. Friends. Of course. He could be just friends. He could do that. Whatever her feelings for him, he could be there for her whenever it mattered. “Well, if you really want me to stay, then I’ll stay. If I’m still welcome, of course,” he added, stepping up to her.

 

Ash gave him a pitying look. “Just don’t scare me like that again, that’s all I ask.”

 

“Promise,” Loki smiled.

 

Ash pushed past him and bent down to retrieve the shattered shards of her mug. “You could have at least left me a note.”

 

“Saying what?” Loki asked. “Ash, it’s been great but I’m not coming back?”

 

She turned to him. “God of Mischief; you’re aptly named.”

 

“Well, I like to think so,” Loki smirked.

 

Ash shook her head and then yelped as the broken china cut into her finger. “Ow!” she exclaimed, putting the pieces on the draining board and examining the gash.

 

“You alright?” Before she could protest, Loki took her finger and quickly healed the cut with his magic. Then he waved a hand at the shards and they instantly rebuilt themselves into her favourite mug again. He looked at her, hopefully, and she managed a smile.

 

“Well, at least you’re _trying_ to apologise,” she said, and then, unable to keep herself back any longer, she wrapped him in a hug. “I _missed_ you, you fool,” she muttered.

 

Loki smiled as he returned her hug. “I missed you too.”

 

“Friends?” Ash asked, pulling out of his embrace.

 

“Friends,” Loki confirmed, dropping his arms somewhat reluctantly.

 

“Good, then you can make me a cup of tea. I’ve had a terrible day,” Ash replied, nudging him in the direction of the kettle.

 

“Really? I would never have guessed,” Loki teased, using magic to make the tea.

 

“Loki that’s cheating,” Ash scolded.

 

He shrugged. “Well, what’s the point of having magic and never using it?”

 

Ash watched him, carefully, as she took her mug from him. “Where were you?” she asked, curiosity finally getting the better of her.

 

“I’m not actually sure,” Loki confessed. “I just wandered, mainly. I saw a sign at one point that said Islington.”

 

“Islington?” Ash repeated. “Jeez, that’s ages away! What did you do about food?”

 

Loki looked embarrassed. “I, um, I may have used magic to manipulate people into thinking I’d paid for it.”

 

“Loki!” Ash exclaimed, wearily, as if she ought to have expected it. “You’re going to end up with a criminal record at this rate! And don’t count on me to bail you out!”

 

Loki laughed, carelessly. “You really think your Midgardian prisons could hold me?”

 

“Probably not,” Ash agreed. “So...” She hesitated, biting her lip, unsure of how to ask the question without sounding impolite. In the end she decided to just go for it. “Why did you come back if you didn’t intend to?”

 

Loki looked at her, his expression serious. “I sensed you were in distress.”

 

“You sensed it?” Ash repeated.

 

“Mm.” Loki nodded, thoughtfully. “I think it was like, that thing where brothers and sisters can tell when one of them’s in trouble.”

 

“Empathy,” Ash supplied.

 

“Yes. I think it was like that. I just suddenly got a feeling that you needed someone with you. So I teleported back here because...” He hesitated. Because I love you, was what he wanted to say, but instead he settled for “Because I thought you might be in trouble.”

 

Ash lowered her mug, fixing him with a coy look. “You were worried about me, weren’t you?”

 

Loki flushed without meaning to. “No.”

 

“You so were!” Ash exclaimed. “You came back because you were worried I was hurt or something!”

 

Loki looked at her and knew that he was just going to lose this argument anyway so there was probably no point in keeping up the pretence any longer. “Alright, yes, I’ll admit, I was a bit...concerned.”

 

Ash smiled. “Well, that’s very sweet of you, Loki.” And she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

 

Loki was surprised but in no way displeased by the gesture. “Well...we’re friends, aren’t we?”

 

Ash nodded and moved into the living room. “I’m still cross with you, though,” she warned him.

 

Loki nodded and sat down beside her. “How can I make it up to you?”

 

“You can start by ordering Chinese,” Ash replied, thrusting the phone at him. “I’m not cooking after the day I’ve had.” Then, seeing him looking lost, she smiled and shook her head. “Correction, you can order Chinese for both of us _after_ I’ve showed you how to use the phone!”


	10. Pumpkins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

There was no other way to describe it, Ash decided, looking around her at all the work piled up, piles which kept growing as her boss kept finding more and more work for her. Miranda was just plain evil. She knew by now that her boss liked seeing people work hard, but this was just plain ridiculous. She was suddenly reminded of the fairytale Cinderella and bit back a laugh, thinking how ironic it was at that moment that she happened to be called Ash. Ash. Cinders. Ironic.

 

If it wasn’t one thing, it was another; something hadn’t been filed correctly, those envelopes should have been franked and in the In Tray by now, the magazines still hadn’t been labelled, those newspapers still hadn’t been de-stuffed, and Ash felt just about ready to scream when a voice close by said “This is where you work?” and she let out a yelp, jumped to her feet and upturned the box of magazines on her lap, spilling them to the floor.

 

“Jesus, Loki!” Ash exclaimed, spinning about to face him, one had over her chest in case her heart suddenly leapt out of her ribcage. “Don’t do that!”

 

“Sorry, I thought you’d heard me,” Loki shrugged, slipping his hands into his pockets. Ash noticed that he was wearing his favoured Midgardian clothes, the one he had worn for her that day in the park, instead of his usual outfit, and she managed a smile.

 

“Just...make a bit more noise next time you decide to teleport in here,” she scolded, gently, bending down to retrieve her work. “You’re so quiet, I nearly had a heart attack.”

 

Loki crouched down beside her and began helping her pick up the magazines. “Would that mean I get your flat, then?” he asked, mischievously, and for the first time that day Ash laughed.

 

“Nice try,” she said, taking the magazines from him and piling them all back into the box. “What are you doing down here anyway? Not that it’s not good to see you, with the day I’m having,” she added, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

 

Loki shrugged. “I got bored.”

 

“Oh, run out of reading material?”

 

“Yes, as it happens.”

 

“Oh, sorry,” Ash smiled, sympathetically.

 

“It’s not your fault,” Loki replied, in surprise.

 

“No, I know, but I do wish I had room for more books in my place,” Ash replied, sitting back down again.

 

“I was on my way to the library,” Loki added, “but I suddenly sensed you were a bit frustrated.”

 

Ash sighed. “It’s just...well, it’s really all being piled on top of me today.” She gestured around the room to make her point. “I really hate Miranda some days, she’s so strict it’s unbelievable.”

 

Loki glanced at the work piled around her and waved a hand at it. Everything organised itself at once; newspapers de-stuffed themselves, the magazines were labelled, the paperwork was all filed correctly, the envelopes franked and ready. Ash smiled at him, gratefully. “Thanks, but they’re just going to keep finding me more work to do.” Then, seeing his face fall at that, she decided on a way to cheer him up. “Look, I’m meant to finish a bit early today anyway, so why don’t I meet you in the library? And actually there’s a book I wanted to take out,” she added, fishing in her bag for a pen and a scrap of paper and jotting down the name and the author for him, “so maybe if you find it you could hold onto it for me before someone else nabs it first?”

 

Loki smiled and took the scrap from her. “I’ll do that.”

 

Part of him was screaming inwardly _Tell her! Tell her how you feel!_ The other part was shouting _No! She’s your friend! You’d ruin everything if you did that!_ Just as he was telling both voices to shut up, the door opened and Mark came in with another bundle of papers.

 

“Hey,” he smiled at Ash. “Sorry, but I’ve got another load-oh, hi,” he added, spotting Loki.

 

Loki straightened up and glanced at Ash, wondering if this man should be perceived as a threat or not. Ash smiled back at Mark and got to her feet. “That’s ok; she’s really piling it on me today, isn’t she?”

 

“Piling it on everyone,” Mark replied, handing her the bundle. “I think she’s having problems at home or something.”

 

Noticing that Loki had become unnaturally quiet, Ash turned to him. “Oh, Loki, this is Mark. Mark, this is Loki I was telling you about.”

 

“Oh!” Mark grinned. “So you’re the reason she was all worried last week, then?”

 

Feeling he could at least trust this man, Loki decided to maintain his friendly demeanour and shook the proffered hand. “Yes, I’m afraid I got held up longer than expected.”

 

“Oh, tell me about it,” Mark grinned, his tone sympathetic. “Morning traffic’s always the worst.” Then, to Ash, he added “Have you had your invite yet?”

 

“Yes, it was on my desk this morning,” Ash sighed. “I just managed to get a costume at the last minute.”

 

“Yeah, it’s been crazy this year,” Mark agreed.

 

“Invite?” Loki cut in.

 

Ash reached into her bag and pulled out the square of card she had found on her desk earlier. “Miranda’s Annual Hallowe’en Party on Friday.”

 

“Yes, everyone she works with feels obliged to go out of fear that she’ll fire us if we don’t,” Mark agreed, scratching his head. “Why don’t you join us?” he added, brightly. “That is, if you’re not already doing anything?”

 

Loki flickered his eyes briefly to Ash and noticed her giving him a pleading look. He smiled. “I just might do that.”

 

“Great,” Mark replied, and then his pager bleeped and he sighed. “Damn it, what do they want now?” he muttered, hurrying out of the room.

 

“He seemed nice,” Loki commented, blandly.

 

Ash glanced at him. “I think he likes you a bit.”

 

“Oh, you mean-?” Loki felt a twinge of relief. So the man wasn’t after Ash after all, then. He smiled. “Well in that case I like him too.”

 

Ash’s eyes widened slightly at that. “Well, I never saw that one coming!”

 

Loki laughed. “No, I don’t mean like that!”

 

“Oh.” Ash smiled. “Right, well, I’d have no problems if you did swing that way, you know, but...” She shrugged and shook her head. “Shut up, Ash, you’re rambling again.”

 

Loki laughed again and then frowned. “Ash?”

 

“Mm?” Ash replied, absently, busy cutting the tie around the bundle of newspapers.

 

Loki turned the card over in his hands. “What does Hallowe’en mean?”

 

“All Hallows Eve.” When he looked none the wiser, she turned and smiled at him. “I guess you don’t have it on Asgard. It’s sort of celebration day, something to do with remembering the dead is what it used to be, but these days it’s just an excuse to dress up as something scary, or even just in some ordinary costume, and have a party.”

 

“Oh.” Loki seemed to understand. “We had festivals like that on Asgard.”

 

“Yeah?” Ash smiled. “Any good?”

 

Loki shrugged. “I don’t know, I never attended any.”

 

“How come?”

 

He shrugged. “I don’t know; I suppose I didn’t really see the appeal of attending one on my own. Thor had his friends to be with, but...I didn’t.”

 

“Oh.” Ash seemed to deflate in sympathy as she reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. “Well, please come with me to Miranda’s party, otherwise I’ll be left on my own if Mark goes home early like he usually does and then some sleezeball from the sub department will start hitting on me.”

 

“If you want me there, I’ll come,” Loki replied, trying to steady the motion of his heart rate, which had picked up the second her hand had touched him.

 

Ash smiled up at him. “See? I knew you could be a gentleman if you just tried instead of acting like a beast all the time.”

 

She let go of his hand and Loki forced himself to breathe as she did so. He managed a smile. “I’ll be in the library,” he said, and with that he was gone. Ash couldn’t help shaking her head as he left as quickly as he had come.

 

“Typical man,” she muttered, fondly. She was becoming rather fond of him, she realised, it was actually easier to like him than not once she got to know him.

 

Loki, meanwhile, teleported himself to a quiet corner of the library and proceeded to search for the book she had requested, eventually finding it filed on the wrong shelf. He couldn’t help rolling his eyes as he retrieved it; sometimes people could be unbelievably stupid. Still, he reflected, as he tucked the thing under his arm and began searching the shelves for anything interesting, they were only human after all.

 

Ash’s friend the librarian greeted him as he passed by. “Ah, she found you, then? She was in here last week wondering where you’d got to.”

 

Loki smiled. “I didn’t mean to worry her that much; something held me up.”

 

“Oh, well,” the librarian smiled. “How did you find all those books you borrowed last time?”

 

“I enjoyed them very much,” Loki answered, honestly. “Would you recommend any others?”

 

By the time Ash located them, they had gathered about twenty on top of the one she had requested. She laughed. “Am I going to be allowed to take out that many?” she asked. “I’ve only got the one card!”

 

“I think I can let you just this once,” her friend smiled, handing the two he was still holding to Loki. “It’s nice to see you’ve met someone who shares your passion for books, otherwise we’d be out of business.”

 

Ash blushed but neither of them bothered to tell him that they weren’t actually together in that way.

 

“You know, I’ve been thinking,” she said as they left the library, carrying half the books between them in large carrier bags the librarian thankfully fished out for them to use. “This would be your first Hallowe’en ever, so, maybe we should make it a bit special.”

 

“How?” Loki asked.

 

“Well, I don’t really tend to go overboard that much with Hallowe’en these days,” Ash replied. “I mean, I go to Miranda’s party and that’s about it; but maybe we could, I don’t know, rent a scary film and maybe put up some decorations. And get some Hallowe’en themed snacks in.” Then, with a sheepish smile, she added “That’s...if you’d like to. I mean I don’t want to pressure you if you’d rather not.”

 

Loki smiled. “I think I’d like that.”

 

“Great, we’ll start now,” Ash replied, steering him in the direction of the nearest Tesco’s.

 

“So, enlighten me,” Loki said when they were back in her flat, the books all piled up by her shelf, and two large pumpkins sitting on the table in front of them. “What are we supposed to do with these things?”

 

“We,” Ash replied, “are going to make pumpkin lanterns. We used to do this all the time at school, although I haven’t done it in years, but hopefully I haven’t lost my touch.”

 

Loki frowned as she handed him a knife and sat him down at the kitchen table. “We cut them up?”

 

“No, we carve into them,” Ash replied, beginning to slice the top of her own pumpkin. “Just watch me, and bear in mind, this is going to get messy.”

 

Loki simply raised his eyebrows as if to say that getting messy wouldn’t bother him and then watched her carefully as she set about scooping out the inside of the pumpkin and then copied her perfectly. “You can eat the inside,” Ash added, “or the seeds, if you want. I don’t because I don’t like them.”

 

Loki smiled, wanly. “I think I’ll pass.”

 

“Ok,” Ash shrugged and then went around to stand behind him. “Now you just carve something into the outside.”

 

Very aware that she was extremely close to him, Loki tried hard not to lose his nerve. “Such as?”

 

“Well, most people just carve a scary face,” Ash replied, wiping pulp off her fingers, “but you can do anything, really, as long as it looks scary, or spooky. It could be a monster or a scary house or a witch or a ghost, anything as long as it’s to do with Hallowe’en.”

 

“And the point of Hallowe’en is to be scared?” Loki checked.

 

“Mm-hm,” Ash agreed, sitting down in front of her own pumpkin and trying to decide what to carve. “And careful you don’t cut yourself,” she added, sounding more like a mother than a friend.

 

Loki simply smiled and set about carving. Ash thought a little longer, twirling her knife in her hands, and then decided on a spider, working it out like a stencil, a rather large one given that they both had rather large pumpkins.

 

“I’m done,” Loki stated, and she looked up at him. He grinned at her. “And I think you’ll find it rather scary.”

 

“Let’s see, then,” Ash replied, laying down her knife. Loki turned the pumpkin towards her and she gasped. “Wow! Loki, that is incredible!” Then, with a frown, “What is it?”

 

Loki rolled his eyes. “It’s a Lindworm; a dragon from Asgard legend. They’re incredibly fast, incredibly aggressive and incredibly venomous.”

 

“Well, you’re right, I would be scared if I came up against that in a dark alley,” Ash agreed, still marvelling at how intricate his detail was. It looked like something from the Book of Kells to her mind, the way it twisted and looped about itself.

 

“Let’s see yours,” Loki said.

 

“Oh.” Ash blushed. “It’s nowhere near as good as yours, it’s just a spider.” She turned it to show him and Loki nodded, thinking privately that it was almost as good as his Lindworm.

 

“That’s very good,” he insisted, with a smile.

 

Ash grinned and climbed out of her chair. “Come on, let’s set some candles in them. I’ve _got_ to get a picture of yours.” She fished in the cupboard under the sink for a couple of candles and after she had set the in each pumpkin, lit them and slowly lowered the tops of the pumpkins onto them, worried about accidently putting the fire out. Loki couldn’t help feeling a swell of pride as she pulled out her camera and took several photographs of their pumpkins side by side.

 

“Aw,” Ash sighed, lowering her camera. “It’s a shame that they won’t last forever. But I suppose we can always do it all over again next year.”

 

Next year? Loki glanced at her in surprise. She was thinking that far ahead already? It had never occurred to him that he might be a permanent resident in her flat, especially after the number of times they had clashed when he had first come to stay with her.

 

“Let’s see how they look in the dark,” Ash said, running to turn the lights off. The effect was remarkable as the delicate Lindworm and scary spider loomed out of the darkness at them, casting their images on the walls and glowing brighter than the sun.

 

“Wow,” Loki couldn’t help murmuring.

 

Ash sighed, happily. “They look wonderful.” Then, nudging him gently, she added playfully “Not bad for your first time.”

 

“Thanks,” Loki smiled, nudging her back, and then, hesitantly, added “Ash?”

 

“Mm?” Ash replied, watching the glow from their lanterns.

 

“When you talk about...next year,” Loki said, and this caused her to look at him, “do you mean...you’re expecting me to be here then?”

 

Ash looked surprised. “Well...won’t you?” Then before Loki could reply, she added “Sorry, I just...I guess I just assumed you would be. I mean, we are flatmates, so...”

 

She let the sentence drift. “You mean I’m alright to stay...longer?” Loki asked, not daring to actually use the words “permanently” or “forever.”

 

Ash looked up at him, her expression serious. “Loki...you can stay for as long as you want to. I’m not going to kick you out. You need a place to live.”

 

Loki immediately wrapped her in a hug, burying his face in her hair. “Thank you,” he murmured as she returned it, meaning every word and wishing there was some other way of showing her just how grateful he was, how happy he would be to live with her for the rest of their lives.

 

“You’re welcome,” Ash replied, and then as she pulled away from him, she laughed. “Blimey, I can’t believe I used to be _scared_ of you now! I mean...you’re really not a monster like I thought at first.”

 

Loki smiled, the mischievous look back in his eyes again. “Oh, I can be scary when I choose to, Lady Gray. Just wait until Hallowe’en.”

 

Ash quickly made a mental note _not_ to tell him about April Fool’s Day!


	11. Hallowe'en

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

“Ready to go?” Ash asked, ducking back into the living room where the God of Mischief was reclining on the sofa with a book, waiting for her.

 

“I’ve been ready for ten minutes,” Loki replied with an eye roll, glancing up at her and then staring at her. Her dark hair was loose from its neat bun and she was lightly made up, dressed in a short red evening dress with a V-neck that fell just past her knees over flesh-coloured tights and red shoes with low, thick heels. What really threw him, however, was the blood-red velvet cloak with a hood that she was wearing with it; it looked like something from Asgard. The entire effect was...indescribable, but in the best of ways. He sat up as she merely laughed and pulled her evening bag off the back of the chair. “What exactly are you supposed to be?” he asked, getting to his feet.

 

“Oh, Red Riding Hood,” Ash answered, carelessly. “She’s a character from a fairytale. I guess you don’t have that on Asgard.” She gave a shrug. “I don’t know; I just always kind of wanted to go as her.”

 

“Well, you look nice,” Loki managed to say, feeling his heart stuttering in his chest. “Nice” didn’t cover it, she looked amazing.

 

“Thanks,” Ash grinned. “You look good too.”

 

They had both agreed, since Loki had been very adamant that he had no desire to dress up as something foolish or frivolous – although Ash had a feeling that give it a couple of years she might be able to persuade him to – that he should just war his ordinary Asgard clothing and they could easily pass him off as a character from a fantasy film or television show. Loki had the name “Game of Thrones” memorised just in case anyone asked.

 

“Obviously,” he smirked, straightening his tunic and prompting a laugh from her. “Are you going to be cold like that?” he added, seeing that Ash ignored her coat as she made for the front door.

 

“No, I’ll be fine, I’ve got this,” Ash insisted, tugging on the hem of her cloak.

 

“But you haven’t got sleeves,” Loki pointed out.

 

Ash sighed. “You sound just like my mother,” she said, pulling him out of the flat.

 

Loki laughed and decided not to ask again if she was cold.

 

It was a quick trip to Miranda’s place so they walked, passing by young children dressed as vampires and werewolves and witches and princesses and superheroes and Frankenstein’s monster out trick-or-treating with their parents. Ash explained in an undertone to Loki what each one was as they passed and Loki made a mental note to read Dracula and Frankenstein next after he was done with The Woman in Black. (Those two had been among the ones her friend the librarian had allowed them to take out and he had mentioned to Loki that they had, for their time, been very scary when they were written.)

 

“Hey, come in,” grinned Jenna, one of the girls from subbing who usually remained very close to Miranda like one of her personal flying monkeys. She was nice enough though, Ash had always found, and was dressed like a cave girl, her blonde hair mussed and fake mud plastered across her cheek.

 

“Are we the last ones?” Ash asked, crossing the threshold, Loki right behind her. The party looked to be in what could be described as “full swing” if the term “full swing” meant there was loud cheesy music playing, a majority of people in costumes standing around and just talking and a few couples dancing in the middle of the living room carpet.

 

“Nah, there’s a couple from editing that haven’t turned up yet,” Jenna replied, before realising that Ash wasn’t alone as usual, straightening her posture and tossing her hair over her shoulder as she added “Sorry, I don’t think I caught your name.”

 

It was an obvious attempt at flirting, but even though Loki knew he wasn’t interested, he maintained a friendly attitude anyway. The way he saw it, anyone Ash looked to be alright with couldn’t be perceived as a threat, so he held out his hand for hers. “Loki.”

 

“My new flatmate,” Ash added.

 

“Oh, I thought I hadn’t seen you around the office,” Jenna smiled, and then to Ash, “Tell you who _is_ here, though, Alex.”

 

“When is he not?” Ash laughed. “Where’s Miranda?”

 

“Don’t know, I haven’t seen her since she let me in,” Jenna shrugged, and then to Loki, “She’s probably got her claws into some bloke, but don’t tell her husband.”

 

“Come on, let’s find something to drink,” Ash said, weaving through the standing people, many of whom barely acknowledged her as she passed, proving just how distant they were from her. Loki quickly followed after her. “Think you’ve got an admirer, there,” Ash grinned at him.

 

Loki smiled. “Not really my type, I’m afraid.”

 

“Oh, so you don’t go for tall, blonde and busty, then?” Ash laughed, reaching for a paper cup as they got to the punch bowl.

 

 _She’s not my type because my type is standing right in front of me,_ Loki wanted to say, but instead he simply shrugged and said “Not really. Besides, I don’t notice looks as much as other things.”

 

“Such as?”

 

“Intelligence. I like girls who read.”

 

“Oh, no wonder you get along with me, then,” Ash laughed, handing him a cup of punch.

 

Loki simply smiled and tried the stuff, which was very sweet tasting but not unpleasant. Ash, however, frowned as she took a sip. “Ok, someone has definitely added something to this; it’s never usually this nice. Do me a favour,” she added, laying her hand on Loki’s arm. “If I start to sway after too much of this, make sure I get home alright.”

 

Loki smiled. “You can trust me.”

 

“Can I?” Ash teased and he laughed.

 

“Ash!” Mark was making his way over to them, dressed surprisingly enough in a neat suit and holding a martini glass. “You made it. How the hell do we get roped into this every year?”

 

“I think people agree to some pretty strange things when they’re trying to hang onto the only jobs they’ve got,” Ash replied.

 

Mark chuckled and turned to Loki. “Hey, glad you could make it. So...what, it’s Game of Thrones or something with you?”

 

“You’re correct,” Loki replied, pleasantly. “And yourself?”

 

“James Bond!” Mark replied, holding up the glass and quoting “Shaken but not stirred!”

 

Ash laughed. “Well, at least that’s one costume you can wear without feeling like a fool.”

 

“Ah, it’s Hallowe’en,” Mark replied, slinging an arm around her shoulder and pulling her in for a hug. “We’re allowed to look daft for this one night of the year.”

 

“Ash!”

 

The three of them turned their heads and Mark groaned. “Heads up, here comes the Queen of Darkness,” he muttered to them, and Loki took it to mean that he didn’t mean that in the literal sense as a woman dressed as an Ancient Greek came drifting up to them.

 

“Hi, Miranda,” Ash said as she got close.

 

“Good, I’m glad you’re here, I wanted a word with you anyway,” Miranda replied, coolly, indicating that she wanted Ash to go with her into the kitchen.

 

Ash nodded. “Be right back,” she muttered to Loki, setting down her cup on the table, and then a little more loudly “I trust you boys can amuse yourselves without me for a minute?”

 

Loki smiled. “I think we can do that.”

 

Mark gave her a mock salute as she followed Miranda and then turned to Loki. “You really like her, don’t you?”

 

Loki turned to him, sharply. “Sorry?”

 

“Oh, come on, Loki.” Mark grinned at him. “I see the way you look at her. It’s the kind of look people give their friends when they secretly want to be more than just friends with them.” He sighed as he helped himself to some punch. “It’s a look I know only too well.”

 

Loki stared at him, surprised that this simple Midgardian had been able to see through his facade of carefully concealed feelings. Or perhaps he was letting his guard slip a bit. At any rate, he was surprised speechless for a second. “You’re right,” he finally admitted.

 

Mark gave him a sympathetic look. “Have you told her, yet?”

 

“No,” Loki admitted, feeling he could talk to Mark without fear of being judged or teased. “I mean...I live with her now. If she didn’t feel the same way, it could be really awkward.”

 

“Yeah, I know the feeling,” Mark nodded.

 

“Really?”

 

“Really. Been there myself many times.”

 

“So, what do I do?” Loki sighed, startling even himself by asking for help.

 

“Well, if there’s ever any indication she feels the same way, you should just tell her,” Mark advised. “Or,” he added, seeing Loki was about to point out the different ways that something like that could go wrong, “you could try and win her over in some way. You know, do something that might make her see you in a different light; so you’re not just Loki-the-flatmate, but Loki-the-potential-lover.”

 

Loki thought about it. “Such as?”

 

“Um...” Mark frowned. “Nope, that’s as far as I can go, sorry.” He thought for a second. “How much do you know about what she likes doing?”

 

“I know she enjoys reading,” Loki replied.

 

“Well, it’s a start. Ooh, wait, I do happen to know that she loves going to the theatre, especially when it’s Shakespeare being performed,” Mark added, thoughtfully. “You could let her drag you along to one of those.”

 

Loki laughed. “I think it might be me doing the dragging there. I enjoy his works too.”

 

“Even better, something you’d both enjoy,” Mark laughed. “Or, even if she’s just having a bad day or something, just be there for her; let her cry on you or make her a cup of hot chocolate or something. Trust me, I have a sister, I know how girls operate.”

 

Loki laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

“You got any siblings?” Mark asked, matter-of-factly.

 

Loki hesitated. “Sort of.”

 

“Sort of?”

 

“I’m adopted.”

 

“Oh. Well, do you have any adopted siblings.”

 

“Just the one.” Loki wondered whether the word would feel right if he used it again, but to his surprise it felt as natural as it always had on his tongue. “My brother. Thor.”

 

“Blimey!” Mark nearly snorted into his punch cup as he tried not to laugh. “You must have had cruel parents; I mean, Thor and Loki, both named for Norse Gods.”

 

Loki smiled and said nothing. Mark gave him a serious look and set down his cup. “Look, I’ve only known Ash as long as she’s been working here, but I consider her a friend, so...be good to her. I mean, if you do ever tell her how you feel. Don’t break her heart.”

 

“I’ve got no intention of doing that,” Loki replied, completely truthfully. “I intend to treat her like the Queen she is.”

 

Mark blinked at him. “Wow.”

 

“What?” Loki asked, swivelling his eyes away from the two people dressed as Catwoman and a frog who were dancing together in the middle of the room.

 

“Just the way you said that. So straightforward. Not a hint of irony. Very romantic.” Mark grinned at him. “I’m sure she’ll love you if you say that to her.”  

 

Loki flushed, in spite of himself. “Well, thank you.”  

 

“Hey!” Mark grinned as Ash slipped up to them again. He held out a cup of punch to her but Ash shook her head. “I need something stronger than that,” she confessed, holding up a bottle of Newcastle Brown.   

 

“Where’d you get that?” Mark exclaimed. 

 

 “Nicked it out of the fridge,” Ash confessed. “Hey, you’re Double O-7, do you have a gadget I can use to get the top off with?”  

 

“Ta-dah!” Mark grinned, holding up his bottle opener key ring, and he got the top off for her, causing Ash to flash him a grateful smile before she took a swig.   

 

More impressed than he let on, Loki asked “So, what did she want?”  

 

 “I’ll tell you what she wanted,” Ash replied, sounding indignant as she said it. “She wanted to dump a hell of a lot more work on me, that’s what she wanted.”  

 

“She got any more of those in there?” Mark asked, and when Ash nodded, he set down his punch cup. “Right, I’m grabbing one. Want one, Loki?”  

 

“Thanks,” Loki nodded.  

 

“No probs,” Mark replied, and then he pushed through the standees towards the kitchen.   

 

“You two bonding, then?” Ash smiled.   

 

Loki returned it with genuine warmth. “I can see why you like him.”  

 

“Yeah, he’s a nice bloke,” Ash agreed, taking a careful sip of beer this time. “And I think he was actually the first one out of this lot to learn my name.”  

 

Loki was about to reply when a voice called "Ash!" and they both looked up in surprise to see a man in Elizabethan costume, complete with a ruff and a quill, coming up to them. “And here comes the second,” Ash muttered to him.  

 

“Hey, Red Riding Hood,” grinned the man. “Maybe I should have come as the Big Bad Wolf.”  

 

“I thought you were a vegetarian, Alex,” Ash replied, cheekily, and Alex laughed.   

 

“Are you meant to be William Shakespeare, by any chance?” Loki asked, forgetting to feel hostile when this was a man who clearly had his eyes on Ash.   

 

“Yes, indeed,” Alex grinned, straightening his ruff. “Though I don’t know how the hell he found this thing comfy, or fashionable come to that.”  

 

“Alex, this is Loki, my flatmate,” Ash said, politely, by way of introduction. “Alex works in the editorial department.”  

 

“Yep,” Alex supplied as the two of them shook hands. “Just under Miranda in the office feudal system.” He flexed his hand after Loki released him, clearly surprised by the strength of his grip but said nothing. Loki decided quickly that he didn’t like him. True, his demeanour was friendly but he got the feeling that here was a man who would simply impress women to gain their love and then would throw them away like old pieces of clothing when he had had his fill of them and move onto the next one like a buyer at a cattle market. Nevertheless, for Ash’s sake, he maintained a friendly demeanour of his own as Alex looked him up and down and said “No, wait, let me guess, Lord of the Rings, right?”  

 

Ash had mentioned that people might think that.  

 

“Close,” Loki replied. “Game of Thrones.”  

 

“Oh. Never got ‘round to seeing that. But then, fantasy’s not really my cup of tea,” Alex replied.   

 

“Here you go,” Mark said, appearing as if out of nowhere and pressing a bottle into Loki’s hand. “One beer, already opened.”  

 

“Thanks,” Loki replied, grateful to have something to do with his hands other than either flex them or throw them out as if to protect Ash from someone who was looking at her the way a hungry wolf _would_ look at a young girl in a red cloak.   

 

“Oh, hey, Mark,” Alex said. “Been up to much lately?”  

 

Mark quickly kept them all entertained with a tale of a friend of his who’s apartment had been overrun with flies lately due to a dead pigeon on his roof that the caretaker hadn’t found until about three weeks later. In a way, Loki was grateful for his intervention, because it kept Alex looking at him and not Ash. As the evening wore on, and they all had a few more drinks and a few more people from various workplaces, Jenna included, came up to talk with them, the atmosphere changed somewhat, becoming a little more warm and exciting, until at last Loki noticed that Ash was looking ready to fall asleep.   

 

“Come on,” he murmured, taking the cup from her hand and putting it on the table. “I think it’s time someone was in bed.”  

 

Ash grinned and tried to resist rubbing her eyes. “Sorry, I’m such a lightweight.”  

 

“Are you going?” Mark asked as they stepped past him. He pulled Ash into a hug. “See you tomorrow,” he said, and then shaking Loki’s hand, “and see you...whenever.” 

 

Loki grinned. “Hopefully.”  

 

Thankfully, Alex didn’t see them leaving.   

 

“I bet you anything I wake up feeling awful tomorrow,” Ash said as she climbed onto the bed and undid her cloak. “Even though I didn’t really have a lot to drink, when you think about it.”  

 

“No, but you said you thought something might have been added to the punch,” Loki reminded her.  

 

“Mm, I know,” Ash agreed, with a yawn. “Wonder what it was. Wish I knew.”  

 

“So, you can find out who it was?”  

 

“No, so I can get some more in!”  

 

Loki began to laugh. “You know, I think I can quite honestly say I’ve never met a woman like you before, Ash!”  

 

Ash giggled. “Could say the same of you. But not the “woman” bit,” she added, blushing deeply.   

 

“I know what you mean,” Loki smiled, and then pointedly turned to let her undress in privacy. Once she was changed, Ash crawled into bed and turned over onto her side.

 

“Wake me when it’s lunchtime,” she murmured, closing her eyes.   

 

Loki glanced at her. “Ash?”  

 

“Mm?” 

 

 “Do you... _like_ me?”   

 

Ash giggled. “I put up with you, don’t I?” Loki shook his head, holding back a laugh and she opened her eyes. “Of course I like you. You’re my best friend.”  

 

Loki smiled, doubtfully. “Thanks.”  

 

Ash, however, misinterpreted his doubtfulness. “I might have been a bit scared of you when we first met, but that doesn’t mean you’re unlikeable. I mean, you looked after me when I was ill; you tried to cheer me up at work; you came out with me tonight. You’re a good person, Loki.”   

 

Loki smiled, sadly, and sat down on his side of the bed. “No, I’m not. I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life; things I’m not proud of now.” Briefly his thoughts landed on Thor, remembering how he had still called him “brother” to Mark, even though they weren’t technically related by blood. “I caused Frost Giants to invade Asgard. I tried to hurt my brother. I tried to get rid of...Odin. I killed Laufey.” He shuddered. “And for what? I didn’t achieve anything in the end.” A thought suddenly struck him. “Mind you, if I hadn’t done all that, if I hadn’t ended up dangling from the Bifrost at the end of it all, I probably wouldn’t have met you.”  

 

No response.   

 

“Ash?” Hoping she wasn’t suddenly appalled or even repulsed by his confession, Loki turned to her, to find her once again fast asleep. “Ash?” He shook his head and flopped down beside her. “Unbelievable!” This was, after all, the second time something like this had happened between them. Loki rolled over, propping himself up on one arm and looked down at her. She looked so serene like this, like a goddess or a nymph. He had never imagined in a million years before that he would ever develop feelings for anybody like this, let alone develop them for a Midgard girl of working class who lived alone in this strange, crowded city, but who had somehow managed to touch his heart regardless.  

 

“What are you doing to me?” Loki murmured, brushing her forehead with a kiss.


	12. Fireworks?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

“Ash? Ash!”

 

Ash raised her head, bleary-eyed and half-awake as she blinked into the darkness. The light suddenly snapped on and she frowned at Loki. “What is it?” she groaned, rubbing her eyes in the blinding brightness surrounding them.

 

“I don’t want to alarm you, but I think we might be under attack,” Loki replied, sounding as though he was doing his best to keep his voice calm, although his face was panicked.

 

Ash pushed herself up in confusion. “What do you mean, under attack?”

 

“Listen.” They sat quietly for a moment and then Loki shook his head. “Strange. I could hear it just now, like cannon fire.”

 

Ash blinked at him and then the sudden whistling followed by an overly loud BOOM reached their ears and Loki sprang off the bed. “There it is again! You see?”

 

She looked at him and then burst out laughing. Loki glanced at her in alarm as she clambered out of bed and pulled back the curtains. “That’s not cannons, Loki, it’s fireworks! No one’s attacking us!”

 

“Fireworks?” Loki repeated, bewildered.

 

“Yeah, someone must be letting them off early for Bonfire Night,” Ash smiled, pointing into the distance. “You see?”

 

Loki watched as something small shot upwards into the air and suddenly burst apart in a bang and a shattering of bright pink and blue colours, like glittering stars, that expanded for a moment and then faded into wisps of smoke. Ash looked at him. “You don’t have fireworks on Asgard?” Loki shook his head, watching a second firework explode in a golden fountain. “You don’t know what you’re missing, mate.” She gave a yawn and closed the curtains, clambering back into bed. “You’ll get used to the bangs, don’t worry.”

 

Loki sat down beside her. “What are they?”

 

“Fireworks? Well...” Ash thought for a moment, trying to work out how best to describe them to someone who had never seen them before. “They’re small explosions, made up of different chemical compounds that explode when combined and lit, and each compound makes different coloured sparks when it explodes, so when they’re let off, they make all sorts of pretty colour combinations and shapes in the sky at night. Does that make sense? It’s how I remember it from Science class.”

 

Loki nodded. “That makes sense, but what’s their purpose? To frighten people?”

 

Ash giggled. “No, they’re for entertainment. People have firework displays late at night for friends and family, or in this case, the general public, to see. It’s especially cool if you’re like me and you don’t have a garden to let them off in yourself, so you can watch them somewhere else and not feel like you’re missing out.”

 

“So, they’re for fun?” Loki asked, his brow furrowing.

 

“Yeah.” Ash gave him a tired look. “I know it must seem like we have some very weird ways of entertaining ourselves here-”

 

“I can think of stranger ways,” Loki interrupted with a smile. “So, what’s Bonfire Night?”

 

“Oh, it’s another name for November the Fifth.” Feeling that she had better explain otherwise she would never get any peace, Ash sat up and faced him. “Back in 1605, there was a man named Guy Fawkes who had a plot to assassinate the King of England and his friends in Parliament by blowing up the House of Lords whilst they were all in it, using gunpowder.” Loki knew enough of Midgard culture to know what that was and what it could do and he nodded, listening intently. “But it failed because one of the men on Fawkes’ side sent a letter to his brother-in-law, who was a Member of Parliament at that time, telling him and his other brother-in-law not to go to the House of Lords that day. Well, he showed it to the King’s men and Fawkes was caught just as he was about to light the barrels of powder. He and the other plotters, apart from the one who had sent the letter, were executed and now we celebrate the failed plot every November 5th with fireworks.”

 

Loki blinked at her. “Why did they want to kill the King?”

 

“Because they didn’t agree with his ideals,” Ash explained. “Back then, Britain was divided, religiously; between the Catholics and the Protestants, both followers of the same religion, technically, but with different ideas about how God should be worshipped. It’s not such a big deal now, but back then, the King was a Protestant and Fawkes was a Catholic. And he and his friends wanted a Catholic ruler on the throne.” She shook her head. “Religion kind of dictated everything that happened back then. Like I said, it’s not such a big deal now who’s on the throne, as long as they have a legitimate claim to it.” Loki was quiet a moment and she wondered if she had said something that had touched a nerve. “Sorry,” she added.

 

“It’s alright,” Loki said, slowly. “I just never considered the possibility that not everyone would agree with their King’s ideas.”

 

Ash smiled and reached out to squeeze his hand. “I’m sure you’d have been a good King, really, Loki. In time.”

 

She rolled over and flipped the light off. Loki sat in silence a moment before he lay down beside her. Ash had no idea if he was really alright or not, so she said, presently, “You know, it’s November 5th on Friday. There’ll be a huge display then, overlooking the Thames. We could go and watch it together, if you like.”

 

Loki was quiet a second, secretly thrilled by the prospect of spending an evening watching fireworks with her, although when he spoke he tried, and failed somewhat, to keep his voice neutral. “I think I’d like that. Perhaps we could watch them from the roof.”

 

“Hey, that’s a great idea,” Ash grinned. “We’ll get some snacks in.” She frowned. “Do you like toffee apples?”

 

Loki glanced in her direction. “I don’t know. I’ve never eaten one. But I do like ordinary apples.”

 

“Right, that’s decided then,” Ash grinned, snuggling down to sleep. “First firework display, first toffee apple, Friday evening. Goodnight, Loki.”

 

“Goodnight, Ash,” Loki said, softly, into the darkness.

 

In spite of having been woken by her flatmate in the middle of the night, Ash found herself surprisingly bright and alert first thing in the morning as she set about making breakfast and getting ready for work. Once she had gone, Loki sat thoughtfully on the sofa and pondered something that had been on his mind for a while. Finally making his mind up, he set about his small task of moving his boots and the large carrier bag of books he still had left to read from the library into the guest room and then spent the rest of the day actually in the library, reading up all he could find about Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night. Ash’s explanation, it turned out, had been a simple textbook version of what he ended up with by the time he left the library, his head brimming with all he had learned.

 

To his surprise, Ash was already home when he got in, meaning he had been away longer than he had anticipated. Home. It was strange how he was coming to think of the flat as just that.

 

“Oh!” was the first thing she said when he came in, her lap piled high with magazines that needed labelling. “There you are. I didn’t know whether to start worrying or not.”

 

“Sorry,” Loki apologised, meaning it as he sat down beside her, using his magic to get her work done for her. Ash rolled her eyes but didn’t complain. “I was in the library.”

 

She smiled, knowingly. “Of course you were. I just thought...when I saw your books weren’t in the bedroom anymore...”

 

“What? That I’d abandoned you again?” Loki grinned at her. “Trust me when I say I wouldn’t dream of it. I put them in the spare room.”

 

Ash was surprised. “Oh. How come?”

 

Loki took a deep breath. “Because I’m thinking of sleeping in there from now on. To give you some space.”

 

Ash frowned. “I thought you said that closeness helps you sleep in a strange place.”

 

“It does,” Loki replied. “But, well, let’s face it, this place isn’t really strange anymore. I’ve grown used to it. I should _try_ sleeping on my own at least.”

 

She giggled. “I suppose you are old enough now.” They both laughed and she got to her feet, glancing at him over her shoulder. It would be nice to have her bedroom back to herself, but after getting used to Loki being there all the time, it would take some getting used to. “You know,” she added, causing him to look up at her, “if you can’t sleep or you have a nightmare or something, you can sleep with me. I mean, I don’t mean-!” she added at how that sounded and the way Loki’s eyes widened, jokingly, at what she had said. “Not sleep _with_ me, I mean next to me!”

 

Loki laughed. “I know what you meant, Ash. Thank you.”

 

She offered him an embarrassed smile and went to her room. The second she was gone, Loki leaned back in his chair. Mark’s words kept coming back to him, his encouragements to do something to impress Ash that might make her look at him in a different light, look at him the way a lover might. That wasn’t the reason he had done this, he told himself, no, he had done this because it was the right thing to do; after all, they were supposed to be just flatmates and poor Ash was getting self-conscious with him being in the same room whilst she undressed, even if he did make a point of turning his back in those instances. But it did seem to have made her happy and that was a start at least. He could do this. He could win her heart.

 

Couldn’t he?

 

“So, I’m thinking,” Ash added, drifting back into the room, dressed now in her jeans and an old jumper, her feet clad in slippers, and her hair down in a loose ponytail, “that once I’m done with work on Friday, I go straight to town and grab some snacks and when we’ve eaten, we go up to the roof and watch the display, which will probably last at least a few hours, and then if we’ve got time, watch a film and go to bed. Sound good?”

 

“Sounds good,” Loki smiled.

 

It did feel strange sleeping in a bed on his own for the first time in ages, but eventually he was able to get comfortable and fall asleep quite quickly. It was also a little strange not being woken by her alarm first thing in the morning, but that was also nice in a way; it meant he could wake up at his own pace. Part of him wondered, as he lay there in the bright light of morning, just listening to the sounds of the city waking up around him, whether he oughtn’t try to get some kind of job now that it was established that he would be staying her for quite some time. It wasn’t really fair on Ash that she did all the work here, and it would be something to do other than stay in the flat or wander about the city in her absence. He decided to ask her about that at some point.

 

Friday came around and he found he was quite excited by the prospect of something to look forward to in the evening. Ash grinned at him as she came in, sporting a bag of snacks, and he investigated it while she was changing; Pringles, chocolate, wine and two apples on sticks coated with something hard around them. He picked one out and was frowning at it when she came back into the room.

 

“Toffee apples,” she explained, coming up to him. “They’re basically just apples coated in hardened toffee, and they’re delicious.”

 

Loki looked at her. “Is it a tradition to eat these on Bonfire Night?”

 

“Yep!” Ash grinned.

 

He returned her smile. “In that case, I think I like your Midgard traditions very much, Ash.”

 

Ash giggled and pushed past him to make dinner. After they had eaten and the sky had grown dark and star-filled, they both pulled on coats and shoes and then Loki teleported them both up onto the roof of the building. “Tell me, why do we have to wait until night to see them?” he asked.

 

“Because they show up better in the dark,” Ash replied, settling herself on the edge of the roof, her legs dangling. “And look more magical.”

 

That was a very good answer, Loki decided as he sat down beside her.

 

“Now, whatever you do,” Ash added as she pulled the cork out of the bottle of wine, “don’t let me get too tiddly and drop this. Otherwise it’ll probably hit some poor old chap on the head and then I’ll really be in trouble.”

 

Loki grinned. “You have my word, my Lady, that I won’t let that happen.”

 

She smiled. “You must be a very polite race to always address people as “Lord” or “Lady.” Or is that just from being raised as a Prince?”

 

“Both,” Loki replied, mischievously. He glanced over the water, remembering that Ash had once pointed out to him that she lived just opposite the Houses of Parliament. “So, Guy Fawkes tried to blow up _that_ building?” he added, pointing to the House of Lords.

 

“Yep,” Ash agreed. “Tried and failed. I shudder to think what might have happened if he hadn’t. The whole country would have been up in arms about it, there’d have been wars and everything. I mean it probably would have fizzled out eventually by our generation but...” She blushed and ducked her head. “Loki! I wish you’d stop me from babbling like this!”

 

Loki smiled. “I like it when you babble. It’s cute.”

 

Then he instantly realised what that sounded like he was implying and he quickly looked away from her. Before Ash could say anything, the sound of faint applause from down below alerted them to the fact that the display was about to begin. They both sat up and Loki felt a tingle of anticipation run through him as the first rockets were lit and sent into the air. They exploded in a rainbow of different colours with heart-stopping bangs and illuminated the whole sky.

 

“Wonder if that’s what it’s like when a star explodes,” Loki mused. “Or falls to Earth.”

 

Ash looked at him and smiled. “That sounds quiet poetic.”

 

Loki returned her smile, the awkward moment between them having passed and drifted away like the firework sparks turning to smoke. He soon got used to the bangs they made and found himself awed by the different shapes and sounds that filled the night. Asgard had never had anything as spectacular as this, he decided.

 

They watched the whole display mainly in silence, the fireworks too loud and distracting to make conversation possible anyway, but Loki couldn’t help voicing his amazement when he finally got around to trying the toffee apple.

 

“This is absolutely incredible,” he told her.

 

Ash just beamed at him. “I knew you’d like them.”

 

As the display finally came to a close, Loki was suddenly very aware that she had shifted a bit closer to him on the roof. He didn’t move, even to look at her, but he could feel his heart rate picking up at her closeness. How did she do this to him, he questioned not for the first time, her? A simple Midgardian woman? And yet...well, now he was beginning to see what Thor had seen in the woman he had fallen for during his time on Midgard. They were different to Asgardian women and in a way it was nice. And if it could work for Thor, then why not for him?

 

In one final golden bang, it was all over and once again the cheers and applause from those watching below reached their ears. “I feel sorry for them,” Ash murmured. “Watching from down there. We definitely had the best view up here.”

 

Loki smiled and glanced at the sky, which was tinted red by the glow from the fireworks and filled with stars. “This was a good idea,” he said, and then, turning to her, “Thank you; I enjoyed myself.”

 

“I’m glad,” Ash smiled.

 

Loki swallowed hard. She had her head resting on his shoulder. What did that mean? Was it just a simple friendly gesture, proving how comfortable she felt around him? Or was it something a bit more than that? He had no idea how to go about finding out. For want of something to do to keep himself from suddenly grabbing her and smothering her with a kiss, he reached around for the almost empty bottle of wine. Ash raised her head off his shoulder and smiled as he poured what was left of it into their glasses.

 

“Thank you,” she said, softly, toasting her glass against his and they both drank, Loki extremely glad that she had moved, now certain that it had just been an unconscious, friendly gesture that she might have done to anyone sitting on the roof with her at that moment, and with what was going on in both his mind and his trousers at that moment, extremely glad that they were sleeping in separate beds now.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you lot are probably waiting for the "inevitable" Loki-Courts-Ash moment, and I promise you it come; I just want to get Christmas and New Year and Valentine's Day and quite possibly Easter out of the way first, ok?


	13. Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

Mark was sprawled on the living room couch with his feet up, magazine in hands, The Flower Duet playing in the background, when the knock came at his door on the sixth of December. He frowned. He wasn’t expecting anyone today. Still, it was cold outside and whoever was at the door was probably freezing their limbs off waiting for him to open it, so he clambered to his feet and went to open the door.

 

“Oh, hi,” he said, in surprise, and then added as he remembered his manners, “Sorry, come in before you freeze.” He took in the other man’s apparel as he closed the door and frowned. “Aren’t you cold without winter woollies on?”

 

“I don’t really feel the cold much,” Loki replied, truthfully, brushing snow off his shoulders.

 

“Ah, yes, I guess you’re probably used to much colder winters than this,” Mark replied with a smile as he leaned over to switch off the stereo. Loki raised an eyebrow at the music filtering from it before it was silenced but made no comment and instead simply sat down in the vacant seat Mark indicated for him. “Cuppa?”

 

“Please,” Loki answered, courteously.

 

Mark was back in a matter of minutes with two steaming mugs and Loki thanked him politely as he pressed one on him. “So, what’s up?” he asked, sitting back on the sofa. “I mean, I’m guessing this isn’t just a social call given that you’d have had to take a bus from your place to get here from Ash’s.”

 

“Actually, I walked,” Loki replied.

 

“Seriously?” Mark asked, his eyes widening. “All that way?”

 

“Well, I had nowhere else to be,” Loki replied, setting his cup on the table. He leaned forwards, elbows resting on his knees, hands twisting together in uncertainty and sighed. “I need your help.”

 

“What with?” Mark asked.

 

“I want to get Ash something for Christmas,” Loki replied. Since she had explained all about the upcoming Midgard holiday to him, and what a long conversation that had been, with so many complex threads to be tied up, and told him about the tradition of exchanging presents with friends and loved ones, it had been plaguing him night and day.

 

“Ah,” Mark replied, knowingly, “no idea what to get her?”

 

“No,” Loki replied. “I’ve had an idea.”

 

“Go on,” Mark prompted, putting his own mug on the table and mimicking Loki’s pose.

 

Loki took a deep breath. “When we were out for a walk last week, some area called Covent Garden, we went through a load of market stalls selling various items, and there was one selling some rather nice scarves. She took a fancy to one but she didn’t buy it because she said it was somewhat expensive.”

 

It was true. He remembered her giving a soft gasp as she picked up the beautiful dark and light blue patterned scarf decorated with gold thread in spirals and swirls. “I love this,” she had breathed, examining it and then sighing at the price tag. “Perhaps after my next pay day, though,” she had added with an optimistic smile, wrapping the thing around her neck, experimentally. “What do you think?”

 

Loki had smiled and replied “You look lovely.”

 

Ash had smiled and put the thing back and they had continued making their way through the stalls, but the way that her eyes had lit up on seeing the scarf had remained with Loki every second afterwards.

 

“Well, if it’s out of your price range,” Mark began.

 

“No, it’s not that,” Loki replied. Rather than just buy the scarf he had decided to replicate it in every detail, using magic, and that way she wasn’t likely to scold him for not paying for it. “I just want to know whether...if I got it for her, would that be...moving too fast?”

 

“Oh.” Now it made sense. Mark smiled, encouragingly at him. “I don’t think you have to worry. People often give people they’re just good friends with things that they know they’re going to love. Like for my last birthday, she gave me the latest Game of Thrones boxset because she knows I love it and that I’d missed the last series of it. See?”

 

Loki nodded. “So, that wouldn’t be too forward, then?”

 

“Absolutely not.” Mark frowned, however. “Wait, I thought you _wanted_ to let her know how you feel?”

 

“I do, at some point,” Loki replied, running a hand through his hair. “I just don’t want to go into it too soon in case I scare her off. I mean, she’s comfortable with the way things are right now, I don’t want to ruin that for her by suddenly announcing that I want to be more than just friends.”

 

Mark nodded. “Fair enough, but don’t leave it too late, otherwise she might find someone else.”

 

To be perfectly honest, that was a thought that had never occurred to Loki before. He tried to imagine it happening. How would he cope if suddenly Ash fell in love with someone else? He shook his head. “You’re right, of course, but-”

 

“Maybe get Christmas and New Year out of the way first?” Mark finished with a grin. “Ooh, ooh, I know what you should do!” He sprang off the sofa with school-boyish energy, much to Loki’s alarm, and snapped his fingers, pointing at him. “You should let her know on Valentine’s Day! Or at least send her a card! Think how romantic _that_ would be!”

 

Loki blinked at him. “Valentine’s Day?”

 

Mark’s eager smile slipped a bit. “Oh, do you not have that where you’re from? Well, anyway, it’s a day when people give gifts of love to people they have feelings for, you know, cards, flowers and the like. You should do that for her.”

 

“Tell me, why am I getting the feeling that _you’re_ more excited about all this than _I_ am?” Loki grinned.

 

“Ah, I’m a sucker for romance,” Mark confessed, sitting back down again. “Plus, you know, Ash is my friend and you seem like a nice guy, so, you know...” He made a “There-you-have-it” gesture with his hands and reached for his tea again.

 

“So, I have your permission to court her, then?” Loki joked.

 

“Absolutely.” Mark raised his mug as though in toast and then frowned, thoughtfully. “Hm. Court. No one really uses that word to refer to dating anymore. They should.”

 

Loki finished his tea and got to his feet. “Thank you,” he said, genuinely meaning it as he got to his feet. “I feel a lot better about getting her something now.”

 

“Anytime,” Mark replied, following him to the door. “Glad I could help.”

 

Loki paused as he stepped outside and then turned to him. “You know, she’s lucky to have a friend like you, Mark.” Then, without another word, he stepped out into the swirling snow, leaving Mark pleased but slightly confused by the compliment.

 

Loki had been telling the truth when he had told Mark that he had made the journey to his home on foot, but he decided on teleporting back home since the snow looked to be picking up, and it was easy in a city like London where no one really noticed if someone disappeared among the crowds. Nevertheless he glanced around once just to check that no one would spot him disappearing before he did so and arrived quickly back inside his room at the flat.

 

His room, it was strange how he was referring to her guest room as that now.

 

Shaking his coat free of snow, he hung it up behind the door and as he was doing so, he heard something drop and a yelp of “Ow!” come from the living room. Startled, he made his way in there in time to see a multitude of what looked like small gold and red balls tumbling as if from the sky and bouncing along the carpet in all directions.

 

“Oh, wonderful!” Ash sighed, rubbing her head.

 

“What’s going on?” Loki asked.

 

“Oh, hey, where’d you get too?” Ash asked, turning to him in surprise. “I woke up and you’d gone.”

 

“Went for a walk,” Loki replied. “Needed to clear my head.”

 

“In this weather?”

 

“Frost Giant, remember?”

 

“Right.” Ash grinned, sheepishly, and then dived to grab some of the balls. “Well, now you’re here, you can give me a hand with this lot.”

 

“What are these, anyway?” Loki asked, bending down to help her.

 

“Baubles, for the tree,” Ash replied, nodding to the pile of boxes marked “Decorations” that he hadn’t noticed before. “The box with all these in just split, I think it must have got damp in the cupboard or something.”

 

Remembering that she had mentioned the tradition of decorating a tree at Christmas, Loki nodded and helped her to gather them all up. “Where do we put them?” he asked.

 

“Oh, just dump them on the sofa for now,” Ash replied. “I’ll sort out a box for them later. Come on, help me put the tree up.”

 

Loki was surprised to find that it wasn’t a real tree but when Ash explained to him that real pine trees were not only messy in dropping their needles but also required being replaced every year for a new one, he admitted that an artificial one was much better. It was surprisingly fun, he realised, covering a tree with electric lights and shimmering tinsel and coloured baubles and other various random decorations such as plastic gingerbread men, glittery angels, tiny knitted stockings and mini crackers.

 

“Do you want to put this up?” Ash asked, holding out the last decoration, a larger gold star. “It goes on the top. You can probably reach it standing up better than I can.”

 

Her voice was casual but something told Loki that he ought to feel honoured that she had asked him to be the one to hang it, so he took it gently with a smile and a grateful nod before putting it on the topmost branch of the tree. Ash clasped her hands together in excitement as she admired their handiwork. “Aw, this always my favourite bit of Christmas, decorating the tree. Of course, it’s much more fun when you do it with someone else. Alone it’s a bit boring.”

 

Sensing the note of sadness in her voice, and guessing correctly that she’d been doing this alone for quite a few years now, Loki slowly moved closer to her and slipped his arm around her shoulders. To his surprise, Ash leaned against him, and they stood like that for a while, looking at the tree, until she tapped his chest and murmured “Come on, I don’t know about you but I’m starving.”

 

Loki grinned at her. “That makes two of us.”

 

The forgotten Prince of Asgard soon learned that when it came to Christmas, everyone in the world seemed to go overboard with their celebrations. Decorations were seen in every shop window, lights were set up in every street and a huge fuss was made about the food and entertainment for the holiday.

 

“How long does this Christmas actually go on for?” Loki asked Ash one day as he helped her set the table and a trailer for a new Christmas film played on the television as they waited for the News to come on.

 

She smiled at him. “Just until December 25th, and then after that, things sort of go back to normal until New Year, and then it’s Valentine’s Day and then Easter and then everything settles down...wow, we know how to clump our holidays together,” she added with a frown.

 

“I’ll say,” Loki grinned.

 

“Huh, you know I hadn’t actually realised how close they all were together until you asked me that,” Ash replied, shaking her head, and they both laughed.

 

Cold days followed cold days of celebrations and greetings and then suddenly, rather quickly, Christmas Day seemed to roll around. Loki had been rather getting used to all the festivities, although a particular favourite was the fact that they kept showing different films that he was unfamiliar with, so it gave them more opportunities for Film Nights together, which was always fun.

 

What was even more fun was sharing the sofa with her for it.

 

“Jeez!” Ash exclaimed, having leapt into his arms for about the third time as they watched some old-fashioned horror film together which had a lot of monsters popping up when you least expected them to. “Why are they showing this at _Christmas_ again?”

 

Loki simply laughed and gave her a hug.

 

Christmas Eve came and he made his way silently into the living room long after Ash was asleep to lay her carefully wrapped present and card underneath the tree. It was strange, he thought, up until he had met Ash he had never felt the same thrill out of giving someone a gift, even his own mother, that giving one to her stirred up inside him. He just hoped that she wouldn’t protest that it was too much when he knew it was something she was going to love.

 

He was roused the next morning by a knock on his bedroom door, startled so much from his dreamless sleep that he almost jumped out of bed and landed on the floor. Blinking sleepily, he pushed himself upright in time to hear Ash call “Come on, it’s Christmas Day!”

 

With a fond smile, Loki rolled out of bed and padded into the kitchen where he found her, as usual, making tea. She turned and smiled at him, somehow looking more gorgeous than ever to his eyes. “Happy Christmas, Loki.”

 

“Happy Christmas, Ash,” Loki replied, softly, before reaching out and pulling her into a hug.

 

Ash smiled as she returned it. “Is this my Christmas present?” she joked.

 

“No,” Loki replied with a smile, leading her over to the tree and holding up the parcel. “This is.”

 

Ash beamed at him and handed him a heavy parcel of her own. “And this is yours.”

 

Loki was surprised, because the concept of her buying anything for him just hadn’t occurred to him before, even knowing how naturally kind-hearted she was. Touched, he smiled and opened the present...and stared with wide eyes.

 

It was, as he had expected from the weight of the thing, a book but not just any book. It was The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, a brand new volume that was as heavy as a brick and had the scent of new parchment still lingering about it.

 

“Ash...” Loki whispered in awe as he flicked gently through the pages.

 

“I thought you might like your own copy,” Ash replied, shyly.

 

“It’s even got the Sonnets in here,” Loki realised, and then, closing the book, he wrapped her in another hug, trying to express as much of his gratitude as possible into it. “Thank you, I love it.”

 

“I thought you might,” Ash replied, pulling away and sitting down to open her own parcel. Loki sat down beside her and was once again filled with warmth as her eyes lit up in awe and amazement at what she unwrapped. “Oh, you remembered!” she laughed, picking out the scarf in delight.

 

“How could I forget?” Loki asked, smiling.

 

Ash hesitated. “Hold on, did you actually buy-?”

 

“I made it,” Loki cut across her. “With magic, copying the original one.”

 

Feeling a similar feeling of warmth that he had actually _made_ something for her, whether it was using magic or not to do so, Ash wrapped the scarf around her neck. “Thank you, Loki, I absolutely love it.”

 

“I know,” Loki smiled and they both exchanged a shy look of happiness.

 

It was Ash who finally broke the silence as she crumpled the wrapping paper still on her lap. “How well we both know each other,” she pointed out with a grin, getting to her feet.

 

“Indeed,” Loki agreed and the awkward moment was broken. It gave him hope, however, hope that she might be beginning to see him in a new light. He resolved to thank Mark for his advice at some point; and to definitely plan something for Valentine’s Day when it came around.


	14. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

When Loki wandered into the living room the next morning, he was surprised to find Ash perched on the edge of the sofa with an open cardboard box at her feet, fingering a Christmas card and thinking hard. He was surprised, given how merry she had been the night before, although he suspected that that had probably been down to the alcohol. He had been somewhat merry himself, although of course he would never admit that to anyone else, even her.

 

“Hey,” he said, gently touching her shoulder.

 

Ash glanced up, sharply and then relaxed her features into a smile. “Hey,” she replied, “didn’t know you were up.”

 

“Are you alright?” Loki asked.

 

Ash sighed and held the card out to him. “Late Christmas card, from my Mum. Read it and weep.”

 

With a frown, Loki opened the card and read the short message inside.

 

_“Dear Ashlynn, I know you’re probably intent on spending Christmas and New Year on your own, again, but I just thought I’d let you know that you’re still welcome to come back home and spend them with us. We all miss you. Love Mum xxx Ps, I hope you like the present.”_

Loki looked up as Ash showed him the contents of the box at her feet. It contained a large dark green pottery vase with what looked like barnacles decorating the sides. “A shop back home does these,” she explained, looking it over. “I guess she remembered that I liked the design.”

 

Loki turned the card about and then glanced at it again. “Your real name’s Ashlynn?”

 

“Don’t go spreading it around,” Ash sighed.

 

“Are you going to go?” Loki asked, holding the card out to her.

 

She shrugged and took it with another sigh. “Dunno. I mean, I feel like I ought to because I missed spending Christmas with them, but on the other hand...” She shook her head. “I don’t know, I just can’t bring myself to.”

 

Loki sat down beside her. “They are your family,” he pointed out.

 

“Yeah, I know, but-”

 

“Ash,” Loki interrupted, with a sigh of his own. It was time to face up to the truth. “Do you know what I felt when Odin told me that I was adopted? Shock, yes, but suddenly it was like everything made sense; why I’d always felt like an outsider even though everyone swore to me that I was one of them. And no matter how many times Frigga insisted that I was still their son, I couldn’t believe her. I still don’t.” He offered her a shrug. “And much as I hate to admit it, I miss them. Don’t let your family slip through your fingers like I did with mine.”

 

Ash raised her eyebrows. “Well, when you put it like that...” she began slowly, and then she got to her feet. “I’ll call Mum.” Loki smiled as she turned to him. “How did you get to be so wise?”

 

Loki shrugged. “Something to do with reading, I think.”

 

“Well, will you come with me?” Ash asked, folding her arms.

 

“Why; do you need help with the numbers?” Loki teased with a smirk.

 

Ash smiled. “No, I mean to Dorset, for New Year.”

 

Loki looked at her in surprise. “You want me to meet your family?”

 

“No, I want you there for emotional support,” Ash replied, “but that would involve meeting the family, so...” She made a dismissive gesture and shrugged. “If you don’t want to, you don’t have to-”

 

“I’d be honoured to accompany you,” Loki interrupted with a smile.

 

Ash returned it with a “Great,” and then made her way out of the room. A few minutes later, Loki heard her say tentatively “Hello, Mum, it’s me.” Not wishing to eavesdrop on her conversation, he busied himself with clearing the table of the food wrappers and empty glasses from the night before and general tidying before Ash came back into the room.

 

“How did it go?” he asked.

 

“Surprisingly well,” Ash replied, and then to his surprise, she gave him a hug. “Thanks for that.”

 

“For what?” Loki asked.

 

“For the pep-talk,” Ash smiled, moving past him to make the tea.

 

Loki shook his head. “I’ll never get used to your Midgardian terms,” he muttered.

 

So it was that a few days later, the two of them found themselves bound for Paddington Station, with the few belongings both had decided to take with them to Dorset, not that Loki had many, mind, since most things he needed he could just conjure with magic, but he decided to take his Shakespeare book for the journey. The whole place was bustling and Loki stuck doggedly close to Ash as she ordered two open return tickets to Bournemouth.

 

“I thought you lived in Dorset?” Loki said as she handed him his ticket.

 

“Bournemouth’s in Dorset,” Ash replied, flicking her hair out of her eyes.

 

“Ah.” Loki decided that he was probably never going to get used to this realm. There were so many names and so many places, and how the Hel the humans remembered them all was beyond him. Still, he followed her towards the train. He was beginning to get used to their various modes of transport by now, although sometimes he did find himself wishing for a good old-fashioned horse or carriage to take them from place to place. It was strange how there were some thing in Asgard he missed and others that he rarely thought about anymore.

 

“So glad we don’t have to change trains,” Ash sighed, sliding into her seat. “It’s always such a hassle doing that.”

 

“How long will this take?” Loki asked, sitting down opposite her. If Thor was here, he reflected, he would take time to take in his surroundings, but personally he would rather just read.

 

“Two hours, thereabouts,” Ash replied, opening her own book.

 

For the rest of the journey they were both silent, concentrating on their reading, and only looking up when the ticket inspector came around, or the man with the food trolley. When their station was finally announced, Loki looked up to a completely unfamiliar backdrop staring back at them from beyond the window. He was surprised as they hopped off the train, the place was a lot less crowded and quieter than London. “This is it?” he checked with her.

 

“This is it,” Ash confirmed, turning towards the door marked Exit. “Follow me.”

 

Loki did so, trusting her to know her way around this new place better than he did. It was definitely smaller than London, he observed, a town rather than a city, and more spacious, more open, there wasn’t the feeling of isolation and smog that hung around the city they had just left. He stopped for a second, looking around, taking it all in. How odd to think that a journey of only a few hours had taken them into a completely new setting. Back on Asgard such a journey would take several days at least.

 

Ash turned around and grinned at him. “Come on, stop being such a tourist!”

 

“It’s alright for you,” Loki pointed out, walking up to her. “You’re used to it.”

 

They made their way across several roads and down into the heart of the town. “Whereabouts do your family live?” Loki asked, presently.

 

“Just over the other side of the park,” Ash replied, gesturing. “But we don’t have to be there for a while yet; fancy a drink?”

 

Loki did, and he was surprised by the name of the tavern. “The Mary Shelley?”

 

“Oh, yes, I forgot you’d read Frankenstein,” Ash smiled, as they made their way inside and found a table. She unwound the scarf he had given her for Christmas from around her neck and shrugged off her coat. “Was it any good, by the way? I’ve never read it.”

 

“You’ve never read it?” Loki repeated, incredulously.

 

She shrugged. “No, just kind of passed me by, I’m afraid.”

 

“You need to read it,” Loki insisted. “It’s amazing.”

 

“I’ve seen bits of the film,” Ash ventured. “When I was younger.”

 

“They’ve made a film of it?”

 

“Oh, yeah, several times. I guess they just like experimenting with the whole Frankenstein Monster idea.”

 

“He wasn’t a monster, though,” Loki said, with feeling. “He was just different.”

 

Ash gave him a sympathetic look. “Well, the best people usually are.”

 

Loki smiled at her, feeling cheered already. The book had got to him because he had seen a lot of himself in Adam, Frankenstein’s creation; that creature endlessly searching for some purpose, their place in the world, and above all, the love and affection they had been denied by those who were meant to love them. He had enjoyed it regardless, though, it had been an interesting story, even if the ending hadn’t exactly been happy.

 

Would his own story be like that?

 

He watched Ash carefully as she ordered drinks for the pair of them. If he were to spill his feelings for her, because he knew for certain now that this was not just some silly crush like he might develop on one of the servants at Asgard, it was the real thing, like Thor felt for that Midgard maiden of his, would she feel the same way? Would she break his heart? Would she be flattered but not wish to make things awkward between them? Damn it, why didn’t life come with a handbook for this sort of thing?

 

Whatever the case, he decided, now was probably neither the time nor the place to blurt out his feelings for her, and anyway he had already planned to send her a subtle hint of his affections towards her on Valentine’s Day. So, he sat back and relaxed as they shared a very enjoyable drink together before moving outside again into glorious sunshine and cool air to make their way to the house Ash’s parents lived in.

 

“If anyone asks, just tell them you’re local to London but your parents are from Scandinavia,” Ash said, vaulting over the gate rather than opening it. “It’ll explain why you’re not wrapped up against the cold, and why there are things here you’ve not heard of.”

 

“Scandinavia,” Loki muttered with a nod. “Got it.”

 

The door was opened by a tall girl with blonde hair swept back in a mussed ponytail. She looked startled and then pulled Ash into a wordless hug, which Ash returned, although Loki noticed it was rather half-heartedly done.

 

“I didn’t think you’d show,” the girl said.

 

Ash just gave a small shrug. “Yeah, well...” She let the sentence tail off and turned to her flatmate. “Loki, this is my sister Kate. Kate, this is my friend Loki.”

 

“Hi,” Kate smiled, a rather flirtatious smile, Loki noted. Was every woman in this realm apart from the one he actually _wanted_ going to start flirting with him?

 

“It’s nice to meet you,” he replied, politely shaking her hand.

 

“And you,” Kate replied, ushering them both inside the house. Loki looked around. From what he could see it looked typical of a Midgardian family home, a bit like those he and Ash had seen in films they had watched together, cosy. As they were shown into a hallway, an older woman emerged from a doorway, her face crumpling into a beaming smile as she pulled Ash into a tight hug. This time, Loki noted, Ash returned it with a little more enthusiasm. So, she got on better with her parents than her siblings. Interesting.

 

“Hello, love,” her Mother smiled, releasing her and then turning to Loki. “And you must be..?”

 

“This is my flatmate, Loki,” Ash put in.

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Loki,” the woman smiled. “Please call me Mary. I’m sure you two would like to unpack in your room before we get dinner started, your Dad’s in the lounge,” she added to Ash, turning to make back into the kitchen again.

 

Ash grabbed her arm. “Wait; _room?”_

 

“Yes, love, your old room,” Mary replied, smiling. “Oh, don’t worry, I didn’t throw anything out,” she added, misinterpreting the startled look on her youngest child’s face entirely before making her way back into the kitchen.

 

Ash looked somewhat despairing as motioned for Loki to follow her up the stairs and into the first room they came to. She sighed. “Typical! I tell my Mother that I’m bringing a friend with me and she immediately assumes that we’re together!” Glancing at the bed she added “Sorry, it looks like we’re sharing again.”

 

“Do you hear me complaining?” Loki teased, which finally brought a smile to her face. They both left their things on the bed and made their way back down the stairs and into the living room.

 

“Hi, Dad,” Ash smiled as the man got to his feet and hugged her.

 

“You’re speaking to us now then?” he grunted, and then, with a glance at Loki, added “New boyfriend?”

 

Before Ash could say anything, Loki cut in “We’re just flatmates.”

 

“This is Loki,” Ash said to her Father.

 

“Pleasure,” he replied, shaking Loki’s hand. “The name’s Paul and I don’t mind telling you that I’m glad she’s not brought another boyfriend along. Too many heartbreaks there.”

 

Loki glanced at Ash, who just shrugged as if to confirm that this was true but it didn’t really bother her that she had had her heart broken before. “Well, she hasn’t actually had one since I moved in with her, so perhaps I scare them off,” he joked and Paul laughed.

 

They were surprisingly easy people to get along with, Loki realised. Ash’s brother, Collin, turned up right before dinner and he seemed a pleasant enough sort, easy-going, a bit like Thor, but also somewhat hyperactive and a joker, but luckily not too annoying. He stuck rigidly to the story he and Ash had decided on, often having to wing it when called up on it, but he had always been a skilled liar and Ash knew to back him up in order to keep up the charade.

 

“Mum, why did you put us in the same room?” Ash hissed to Mary whilst they were washing up together. Loki and the rest of her family were in the living room, with drinks; he was rapidly learning that in the sense of celebration, Asgardians and humans weren’t that different after all.

 

Mary blinked at her, realising. “Oh...was I not meant to?”

 

“Mum, we’re just friends, that’s all,” Ash replied, not adding that she and Loki had shared a bed before, so that in itself wasn’t a problem. It was just that she felt it could be awkward to fall back into them doing so together after sleeping apart, even if it _was_ only for one night.

 

“Oh, I’m so sorry, darling, when you mentioned he was a “friend,” I assumed-”

 

“That’s alright, we’ll manage.”

 

“And I mean with the way you keep looking at him,” Mary added, drying the casserole dish.

 

Ash looked up at her, sharply. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“No need to get so defensive, dear,” her Mother replied. “I mean, you obviously like him.”

 

“Well, of course I do; he’s my best friend,” Ash insisted.

 

Her Mother put her head on one side. “If you say so, love.”

 

Ash didn’t have enough time to dwell on what her Mother had said because all too soon they were all back in the living room with the News on to count down the seconds until midnight, glasses in hands, and soon she was feeling a little, well, tiddly again.

 

“Don’t let me have any more,” she whispered to Loki after her third glass.

 

“You can count on me,” Loki whispered back with a grin.

 

And then all too soon came the inevitable countdown and Ash prepared herself as the family joined in “Ten, nine, eight...”

 

Then, to her surprise, Loki reached out and squeezed her hand. She looked up and met his gaze, his green eyes focusing on hers intently, even as they looked slightly intoxicated. “Thank you for inviting me to this,” he said, softly. “It’s been nice.”

 

Ash managed a smile and returned his squeeze as suddenly with a “Three, two, one...” It was New Year. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek with a whisper of “Happy New Year, Loki.”

 

“I hope it will be,” Loki smiled, kissing her cheek in return.

 

A sound like gunshots filled the room and everyone turned to watch the fireworks display on the television, showing the Thames all lit up a rainbow of exploding colours until finally the last rocket burst and a round of applause went up from those watching.

 

There was general bidding of “Happy New Year” amongst the other family members as they all made their separate ways to their rooms. Ash smiled as she fished her pyjamas out from her hold-all. “Just like old times,” she pointed out. “Sharing a bed.”

 

“Well, I’ll try not to throw you off it this time,” Loki smiled, and she laughed, before he quickly turned his back to allow her to change. Magicking himself into his own sleep clothes he crawled in beside her and they both lay for a minute in the darkness, staring up at the ceiling.

 

“So, how did you find your first New Year’s Eve on Earth?” Ash asked, presently.

 

Loki grinned. “I liked it. Much less annoying than all our fancy Asgard celebrations.”

 

“Did you ever celebrate new years there?”

 

“Oh, yes but our celebrations were much more frivolous. I suppose here you’d call them primitive. This was nice, much more relaxed.”

 

Ash stretched with a yawn. “You know, it’s traditional to make resolutions here; you know, things you’ll do or not do this year.”

 

“I know,” Loki smiled. “We had those on Asgard too.”

 

“Any thoughts on yours for this year?” Ash asked, rolling over to face him.

 

“Be the best flatmate in the world so you won’t kick me out,” Loki suggested and she giggled. “Also, I’m wondering about finding something better to do with myself than just wait around for you to be done with work day in and day out, it gets a little annoying after a while.”

 

“Such as?” Ash asked.

 

Loki shrugged. “I could find a job.”

 

Ash almost laughed again. “You know if you’d said that when we first met, I would have thought I was hearing things.”

 

“I’m serious,” Loki replied. “And, well, it’s not really fair for you to work so hard, pay the rent and let me live there for free. I should at least give something back to you.”

 

She smiled. “I think you’re starting your first resolution already, Loki.” Then, flipping over so that her back was to him, she added “Goodnight. I’ll see you in the morning.”

 

“Goodnight, Ash,” Loki replied, settling himself to sleep and smiling at the outline of her in the darkness. Yes, he would do that. He would be a better flatmate. He would find work, a thought which had always repelled him before but which now seemed much more appealing. And he would also do whatever it took to win her heart.

 

Starting Valentine’s Day; suddenly he couldn’t wait.


	15. Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

“Loki, when’s your birthday?”

 

Loki glanced up from the book he’d been reading. “Sorry?”

 

“Your birthday,” Ash repeated, sitting on the arm of the sofa. “When is it? I mean, are your years planned out differently on Asgard to ours or..?”

 

Loki smiled. “Yes, as a matter of fact. But I was born in winter, so I think here it would be in...” he thought for a second, “that month you call February...around the ninth.”

 

“Right,” Ash smiled, clambering to her feet. “I’ll go and pencil that into my diary.”

 

“Why?”

 

“So I don’t forget to celebrate it.”

 

Loki flushed. “You don’t have to make a big fuss, you know-”

 

“Oh, don’t be daft,” Ash replied, too busy marking it off on the calendar to notice the way his cheeks had colours, “everyone’s friends and family make a fuss on their birthdays. Why should it be any different for you just because you’re from another realm?” Then, thoughtfully, she added “But, if you’d rather we didn’t go-” and then broke off as she glanced at him. “Are you alright? You look a little flushed.”

 

‘Hel!’ Loki thought, but he managed to lie smoothly “I’m fine,” and then add, “When’s your birthday, anyway?”

 

“Oh, not ‘til the middle of summer,” Ash replied. “I was born in the middle of a heat wave, apparently.”

 

“Funny,” Loki smiled. “I was born in the middle of a blizzard.”

 

They both laughed and Loki relaxed, glad that the awkward moment was over. Inwardly he was touched that Ash had thought the date of his birth worth celebrating. Of course, it was always celebrated back on Asgard, but Odin would always insist on making a huge fuss of both his son’s special days when Loki had never wanted that. It was all very well to turn another year older, but why did there have to be so much faff about such a celebration? And why did everyone always assume that just because Thor enjoyed that kind of frivolous commotion, that he did too, just because they were brothers?

 

Brothers...

 

Did Thor ever think about him, he wondered, not for the first time, did he ever look back on those moments they had spent as children, playing together, growing up together? Did he ever wonder what went wrong between them and wish that he could somehow turn back time and fix it? Did he miss him?

 

_‘He’d be an idiot if he did.’_

 

Whenever he looked back now on what he had done, he hated himself for it. How had he let the power go so much to his head, let it corrupt him so much, that he had actually tried more than once to hurt one of the few people in the whole of the Nine Realms who actually _cared_ about him? He could remember the look on Thor’s face as he had let go of Gungnir on the Bifrost Bridge, remember his shout. Both actions told him that Thor still felt that bond between them as brothers, a bond that perhaps no amount of battling between them could ever sever. He remembered Hallowe’en, talking to Mark about his family, how easy it had felt to still call Thor “Brother.” Because what else could he call him? Thor had loved him, even at the end, and he had betrayed that love and trust...for what? A few moments of power. The thought sickened him and each time he pictured Thor in his mind, it was with a stab of guilt.

 

He was roused from his brooding by Ash as she quickly plopped herself down beside him on the sofa and chirped brightly “So, do you want to watch Henry V tonight?”

 

“You feel you even have to ask?” Loki grinned.

 

Ash laughed. “Actually, I think I’ll get a blanket in as well as some snacks, it’s kind of cold tonight.”

 

_‘Blanket?’_

 

To Loki’s relief, though, she didn’t seem in any way inclined to snuggle up to him under it or anything, so he relaxed a little when she spread the enormous black, furry throw over them both as they sat at opposite ends of the sofa. Not that he didn’t want her to, of course, but it could seriously damage his plans to surprise her on Valentine’s Day with a secret admirer gift if she suddenly decided that she liked him in that way after all. His attention was quickly caught by the film and they both watched the battle scenes with rapt attention, both felt a stirring inside at Prince Hal’s famous “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,” speech and both laughed at his rather clumsy attempts to woo Princess Katherine.

 

“Note to self,” Ash grinned. “If I ever fall in love with someone from a foreign country, I will learn to speak their language _before_ I tell them!”

 

Loki smiled and then felt a small pang at her words. What if she did find someone else, before he had even had a chance to tell her how he felt? He couldn’t bear the thought of that. Feigning nonchalance, he asked casually “Is it alright if I ask how many...lovers you’ve had?”

 

To his surprise, she giggled. “Sorry, it’s just that “lovers” sounds so old fashioned.”

 

“Well, what do you call them here?”

 

“Boyfriends. Or girlfriends, depending on which you go for.” She stretched casually. “And the answer to your question is about six, if we’re talking proper boyfriends. If we’re just talking about boys I’ve only ever had one date with, well, that’s quite a lot. Actually, I’d just got out of a really bad relationship right before I met you.”

 

“Really?” Loki sat up a little straighter. Now that _was_ interesting. “What happened?”

 

“Oh, he was possessive, you know?” Ash placed her empty wine glass back on the table. “I mean, there’s being protective of someone, you know, and then there’s just plain psychotic. He even got jealous if I spent some time hanging out with Mark.”

 

Loki looked surprised. “That’s ridiculous.”

 

“I know.” Ash sighed. “That’s why I had to get out of there before he did something really scary, like start stalking me or keep me locked in his place all the time. Thank God I didn’t get as far as moving in with him.” She looked sad for a minute. “It’s funny, I always seem to end up with the wrong type; the ones that either use you just for sex or else have you and then a bit on the side as well.” She shuddered. “I hate that.”

 

Loki reached out and squeezed her hand, gently. “Not all men are like that, you know.”

 

“Yeah, I know,” Ash replied. “I just can’t seem to find the ones who aren’t.” Then, she brightened a little and added “What about you? Did you get many girls back on Asgard?”

 

Loki smiled. “Thor got all the girls.”

 

“Aw!” Ash gave him a sympathetic look. “That must have been really depressing.”

 

“Not really,” Loki shrugged. “None of those girls would have been my type anyway. I quite like girls who are intelligent, not the empty-headed ones who go for a man just because he happens to be royalty. Besides,” he added, thoughtfully, “I think, like you, I’ll know the right girl for me when I find her. I just haven’t found her yet, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t.”

 

Ash smiled. “So, have you never-?”

 

“Oh, yes,” Loki grinned at her, “a few times, with some of the more desperate ones. But Thor always got all the best ones.”

 

Ash sighed. “Everyone always thinks that being the youngest sibling is great, but it sucks!”

 

“You’re not wrong there,” Loki agreed.

 

He thought no more about the whole “birthday” issue until the day itself finally came. Even then, he didn’t know it was that day when he woke up, he just knew that it was another Saturday in winter on Midgard in Ash’s flat, that is, until he heard a clatter coming from the kitchen.

 

“Shit!” he also heard Ash mutter.

 

Wondering what was going on, since she was never usually this noisy when it came to making a cup of tea, he made his way into the kitchen, where he was met with the sight of the kitchen table cluttered with one large metal mixing bowl, an array of objects he had gotten used to seeing in the kitchen but had not yet worked out what their purpose was, and a large bag of flour. Ash busily poking about in one of the bottom cupboards, hadn’t noticed his presence yet, she was too busy balancing three bowls in one hand as she reached around for something else within the confines of the cupboard.

 

“What are you doing?” he asked, causing her to look up sharply in his direction.

 

She gave him a tired smile. “I thought you were still asleep. Did I wake you?”

 

“No,” Loki replied, truthfully, “but I did feel the need to investigate that crash I heard just now.”

 

“Aw, sorry,” Ash smiled, finally digging out the round tin she had been after in the back of the cupboard and straightening up. “I was trying to be quiet.”

 

“Trying but not succeeding,” Loki pointed out and she giggled. “So, what is all this?” he added, indicating the kitchen table.

 

“I was going to bake a cake,” Ash replied. “It’s your birthday, remember?”

 

Loki’s eyes widened slightly. “It’s today?”

 

“Yep.” Ash put down everything that she was holding and gave him a hug. “Happy Birthday.”

 

“Thanks,” Loki said, softly as he hugged her back, once again touched by her consideration.

 

“Come on, do you want to help me make it?” she asked, pulling away from him and opening the refrigerator door. _“Without_ magic,” she added, meaningfully, which made him laugh.

 

“Alright, then,” Loki returned, walking up to the table and glancing over the various utensils. “This should be interesting.”

 

In the end, it was, and quite surprisingly, it was a lot of fun too. It was, Loki had to admit, rather amazing, that an array of ordinary ingredients like flour, milk, eggs, butter and sugar could combine together to make something that was actually quite tasty.

 

“Here, tell me how that tastes,” Ash said, handing over the spoon which was thick with cake mixture.

 

Gingerly, Loki took it from her and wiped a smear of the mixture off the bowl of the spoon with his finger before tasting it. He smiled at her. “If it tastes this good now, I can’t wait to find out what it tastes like when it’s finished.”

 

Ash laughed. “You don’t have to be so neat around me, you know. You can lick the spoon.”

 

He offered her a mock frown. “I’ll have you know I raised to eat like a Prince, not a peasant, unlike you, Lady Gray.”

 

“Oh!” Ash made an indignant noise and then next thing Loki knew he had a face full of flour. “Thank you very much, Your Highness!”

 

Coolly, Loki brushed the flour off his face and waited until she was busy with the mixing again before sneaking a small handful himself from the paper bag. Calmly, he gave her a small tap on the shoulder and she let out an indignant yelp as he flicked the flour at her.

 

“Right, that is it, Mister!” she exclaimed, seizing another handful of the flour.

 

Loki quickly caught her wrist before she could move, however, and smirked at her. “Too slow!”

 

Ash sighed, defeatedly, but then reached behind her with her other hand and threw a bigger handful of flour at him. “Too cocky!” she laughed, cheekily, at the surprised expression on his face.

 

They both grabbed flour at the exact same moment, their hands brushing together in the bag and then began a quick flour fight that quickly turned into a chase when a handful thrown by Ash accidently found itself down the back of Loki’s sleep tunic and she darted playfully away from him, laughing. Loki eventually caught hold of her, however, and pinned her down to keep her from throwing anymore flour at him, but they were both laughing fit to burst by this time.

 

“I hope you’re going to clean this up,” Ash grinned at him.

 

“Me?” Loki raised an eyebrow at her. _“You_ started it!”

 

“Yes, but you have magic,” Ash pointed out and they both laughed.

 

The temptation to kiss her was almost too great, but Loki resisted it as he rolled off her and helped her to her feet. “You look like the ghost of Hamlet’s father with all that flour,” he teased.

 

Ash grinned at him. “Let’s just hope that your brother doesn’t suddenly walk through that door; he’d really get a shock.”

 

They laughed again and then, with a quick snap of his fingers, Loki had them both clean of flour, as well as the carpet and tabletops. Ash gave him a grateful smile and went back to stirring the cake. Loki helped her scrape the whole mixture into the cake tin and pop it into the oven, both of them hoping that it would rise properly, although, as Ash pointed out, if it didn’t, they could always make another one.

 

“Here,” she smiled, pulling some tubes out icing out of a plastic bag. “I bought these so we could decorate it. I mean,” she added as Loki examined the tubes of green, gold and black icing, “you wear those colours a lot, so...”

 

He grinned at her. “Well, they are _my_ colours. Thor’s are red and silver.”

 

“Personally, I prefer green,” Ash smiled, which gave him a warm feeling inside. Before too long, the cake was cooked and Ash pulled it out onto a cooling rack. It smelled wonderful. “We’ll let it cool before we go icing it,” she said, fanning the heat waves rising from it with her over glove.

 

“It looks delicious,” Loki replied, turning to her with a smile. “Well done.”

 

“Oh, I can’t take all the credit,” Ash replied, leaning against the table. “You helped. Technically it should be “Well done” you.”

 

Soon the cake had cooled down enough to allow them to decorate it, or rather for Ash to, since Loki maintained that he wouldn’t have a steady enough hand and that she was much more experienced in that department. Nevertheless, halfway through her writing, Ash turned to him. “Come on, it’s easy.”

 

“No, I’ll only muck it up,” Loki protested, but he quietened when she took hold of his hand and pulled him closer to her. Pressing the tube of icing into his hand, she smiled at him.

 

“Just follow me,” she said, gently, and then with all the patience of a mother with her child, she helped him to finish off the message she had been writing. By the time they were done, Loki had to admit, it actually did look very professional, even the part that he had done, with the words Happy Birthday Loki spelled out in green and gold with small black dots here and there lined with tiny ball bearings. Ash beamed at him. “Hang on, I’ll get a picture, first birthday cake we ever made together.”

 

Loki watched her as she darted off to find the camera, with amusement and also fondness. Well, more than fondness, really. He could still feel the warmth of her hand on his and the quivering feeling inside he had felt at her touch.

 

How, he wondered, had he not seen this coming from the start, that he would inevitably fall in love with her? She was exactly his type, kind, patient, intelligent and, he reminded himself not for the first time, incredibly beautiful.

 

Ash grinned at him as she snapped away and then exclaimed “Oh, I’m such an idiot! I nearly forgot!” Loki watched in alarm as she darted out of the room before he had a chance to ask what was going on. A second later, however, she was back with a large wrapped parcel which she pressed into his hands. “Your birthday present.”

 

Loki blinked at her. “Ash, you didn’t have to-”

 

“Don’t be silly, of course I did,” she interrupted. “It’s your first birthday here on Earth. Anyway, I saw it, and well, thought of you.”

 

Intrigued, Loki unwrapped the bundle and shook out the garment inside. At once he knew that it must have cost her quite a bit, judging from the elegant style and the quality of the material. It was a long trenchcoat made of dark green fabric, the buttons a delicate shade of gold, elegant and suave.

 

“I hope I got the right size,” Ash added, shyly.

 

Loki quickly pulled it on and smiled at her. “Perfect fit,” he smiled, causing her to smile too, and then he stepped forwards to envelope her in a hug. “Thank you, Ash, I love it.”

 

“I got you something else as well,” Ash replied, returning his hug. “Check the pockets.”

 

Loki did so and felt a small square of plastic in the left hand one. He pulled it out and his eyes widened at once upon seeing what it was.

 

“You got me my own library card.”

 

Ash smiled at him. “I managed to apply for one for you through my friend, he’s always been a bit lax about library rules. He put down your home address as here in their records. I hope that’s alright.”

 

Touched once again by her kindness, Loki wrapped her in another hug, trying to put as many unsaid feelings into it as possible. “You’re wonderful,” he told her, and then quickly added “I mean, you’re the best friend in the whole of the Nine Realms. Thank you.”

 

“You’re welcome,” Ash smiled, before finally pulling away from him. “So, ever had birthday cake for breakfast before?”


	16. Roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

Loki winced as he raised his head. It felt like he had a hive of bees living in there, whereas his mouth felt drier than an Asgard drought. He felt slightly sick as well as he pushed himself up and shook his head, trying to clear it, but somehow that only served to make things worse. How could waking up be so painful?

 

Then he remembered.

 

It having been his birthday the day before, Ash had suggested they go for a drink together down in her local bar, and well, one drink had led to another and then another...and then the rest was all a blur. He shook his head, and then winced again, remembering the hangover. Now he knew that Thor was always complaining about whenever he went out drinking with the Warriors Three and woke up feeling ill the morning after.

 

Well, judging by the fact that he was back in his familiar room at the flat, they must have made it back alright last night, so that was something at least.

 

He managed to clamber unsteadily to his feet, noting that he was still in the clothes he had worn the day before, and stagger into the kitchen, holding onto his head for fear it might fall off if he didn’t keep some kind of grip on it. Standing by the kettle, Ash raised her head and smiled at him.

 

“Morning,” she greeted him, “or should I say afternoon?”

 

“I haven’t had that much to drink since...” Loki ran a hand through his hair. “What am I saying? I’ve never had that much to drink before.”

 

Ash giggle and pushed a glass of water into his hand. Loki gave her a grateful nod and then frowned questioningly when she pressed two small white pills into his hand as well.

 

“Painkillers,” she explained. “They’ll stop your headache. Just swallow them with the water.”

 

Loki watched her as she made a cup of tea. “How is it that you’re not suffering when you had just as much to drink as me last night?” he asked, swallowing the pills obediently with the water.

 

“I was this morning when I woke up,” Ash replied. “That was about four hours ago.”

 

“Four hours? Why didn’t you wake me?”

 

“I thought you needed your sleep.”

 

He couldn’t fault her for that, he supposed. “Well, thank you,” he replied, sitting down unsteadily on the sofa. The headache was still there but the water had at least made his feel a little better.

 

She gave him a smile. “Anyway, my Mum always says that it’s not the drinking that gives you a hangover, it’s the waking up afterwards.”

 

“Your Mother’s a very wise woman,” Loki replied, causing her to giggle. He liked that, he decided, he liked being the one to make her laugh. And smile. She had a beautiful smile that just lit up her whole face when she was happy. He hoped he could make her smile like that on Valentine’s day.

 

“Here,” Ash said, holding out a steaming cup to him. Loki thanked her with a soft smile of his own as he took it from her. She settled beside him with a soft sigh of contentment. “So glad I don’t have to go into work feeling like this,” she added, rubbing her eyes. “I mean, my headache’s gone but I still feel kind of groggy.”

 

“Perhaps food would help,” Loki suggested.

 

“Mm, yeah, I’ll make us both a sandwich in a bit,” Ash replied, stretching. “But if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not do much that involves moving today.”

 

Loki smiled at her. “A day in sounds fine to me.”

 

And it was nice, he found, do just spend a day with her doing nothing much other than normal domestic activities, lunch, washing up afterwards, watching a few films together, making dinner and just talking. The more time he spent with her, the more he realised just how much he wanted to be with her, not just as her friend and flatmate, but as so much more.

 

_Oh, my sweet Ash, I would never treat you the way all those other men in your life have treated you; I would look after you the way you deserve to be looked after._

The days leading up to Valentine’s Day seemed to drag, even after he bumped into Mark in the library late on Monday afternoon. He had been researching into the holiday as much as possible, turning up all sorts of stories about fictional romantic couples, as well as real ones, when a voice near his elbow had said “Hey,” and caused him to start, knocking a couple of books to the floor with a soft thump.

 

“Sorry,” Mark grinned, bending down to retrieve them.

 

Loki managed a friendly smile. “You’re getting like me now, able to sneak up on people and make them jump. Seems I’m always doing that with Ash.”

 

“Speaking of which...” Mark gave him a pointed look. “Valentine’s is on Thursday.”

 

“I know,” Loki replied, “and I’m actually a bit stuck.”

 

“Oh?” Mark pulled up a chair and sat on it backwards, legs either side of the back and arms resting atop it. “Anything I can help with?”

 

“Well, I do want to get her some flowers, but I don’t know what to get,” Loki replied. “I know for a fact that orchids are her favourites, but if I get those, she’ll probably know they’re from me and the whole point of this holiday, apparently, is to keep it secret, and according to this book, red roses symbolise romance, but personally I don’t care much for that idea because...”

 

“Oh, everyone and his dog always gets red roses for their Valentines,” Mark interrupted, shaking his head.

 

“Exactly,” Loki replied, secretly thankful that Mark had come up with that, it saved him from going into details about the true reason he wanted to give her any flowers that weren’t red. After all, red was Thor’s colour and he did not want to give the girl of his dreams anything that had anything to do with his brother.

 

“Let’s have a look,” Mark said, reaching for the book. Loki handed it to him and Mark flipped thoughtfully through it. “Mm...well, it says here that pink roses stand for romance too, like the beginning of a relationship type of romance, so that might be quite fitting for you two. And I’ve never know Ash to say that she doesn’t like the colour pink.”

 

Loki took the book back from him. “That would be fitting, you’re right.”

 

“Yeah, I think red roses are more for people who have been in a relationship for a while,” Mark agreed, thoughtfully. “Any thoughts on what you’re going to write on the card?”

 

“Not yet,” Loki admitted. “But I’m thinking. What about you?” he added, feeling compelled to ask. “Any plans for that day?”

 

“I have a date if you can believe that,” Mark replied, getting to his feet.

 

“Congratulations,” Loki replied.

 

“Yeah, a guy from the cafe’ I’ve been flirting with for ages finally asked me out,” Mark replied, grinning. “Wish me luck.”

 

“Good luck,” Loki smiled, and that had been that. Eventually, however, the day itself rolled around and he had everything ready, bouquet of flowers prepared, card written, and as he woke up a few minutes before Ash herself was due to wake up, he felt a tingle of excitement about the whole thing. Clambering from bed, he moved quietly to the front door with his delivery, placing it carefully where Ash wasn’t likely to fall over it when she went out, and made his way into the living room, crossing his fingers for luck as he did so.

 

Ash was with him a few moments later, making toast and tea for them both. She greeted him with a cheerful but sleepy “Hello,” and then after a quick yawn and eye-rub, added “Do you fancy hanging out a bit later? Grab a drink or something? I mean, you’re not spending Valentine’s Day with anyone else, are you?”

 

“No, I might as well be stuck with you,” Loki quipped, bringing a smile to her face.

 

“Good,” Ash replied, with a small sigh. “Sometimes I hate Valentine’s Day. I mean, it’s very nice when you actually _have_ someone to share it with, but when you’re on your own, it’s like the rest of the world’s mocking you for being single.”

 

Loki just smiled and said nothing to that.

 

After they’d both eaten, he allowed her to have the bathroom first, since she actually needed to go out, whilst he spread himself casually on the sofa with a copy of The Jewel of Seven Stars, which the librarian had recommended to him since he had enjoyed Dracula so much. For once he found himself paying more attention to the scenes between the two lovers than the rest of the story and got so into it that it was only when Ash tapped him on the arm he realised that she’d been trying to get his attention.

 

“Sorry, did you say something?” he asked, sitting up a little.

 

She smiled at him. “Just that I’m off now so I’ll see you later, ok?”

 

“Alright, but if you get a date for tonight, let me know, otherwise I’ll be waiting at that bar wondering why you haven’t turned up,” Loki teased.

 

Ash laughed as she grabbed her coat plus the scarf he had given her for Christmas off the peg. “Well, I doubt that’s going to happen, but if it does, I’ll let you know.”

 

Loki waited for the door to close behind her before muttering to himself “Three, two, one...”

 

The door opened and Ash came in, holding the box of roses in her hands and examining the card he had put with them. Resisting the urge to smile, Loki fixed his expression into one of surprise and looked up at her. “That was quick,” he quipped, “or is today the shortest day of the year?”

 

She smiled although her eyes were filled with surprise and awe. “These were waiting outside for me.”

 

“Oh,” Loki replied, closing his book. “Who are they from?”

 

“No idea.” Ash smiled as she read the card before holding it out to him. “But read this.”

 

Of course, Loki knew already what it said, since he had been the one to write it, but he made a show of reading it aloud anyway. “To the woman whose smiles light up my darkest days, with a beautiful name and a beautiful heart, who makes me want to be the hero I’m not, the one to whom my heart belongs.” He made a show of frowning too. “Bit fanciful, isn’t it?”

 

“Loki!” Ash scolded him, softly. “It’s beautiful! And so are these.” She inhaled one of the roses and as its petals brushed momentarily against her lips, Loki couldn’t help being envious of it. “God, if he’d signed it, I’d go out with him. He clearly has a way with words.” Then, she pulled herself together. “Shit, I’m going to be late if I don’t go now. Could you put these in some water for me, please?”

 

She was gone before Loki had a chance to respond. He grinned to himself as he went to do as she asked, and then realised what she had just said. His words alone had managed to charm her. He felt a flurry of different emotions within him all at once.

 

_She might actually consider letting me court her._

 

The prospect that she might want him the way he wanted her suddenly seemed a lot closer than before.

 

He settled himself back on the sofa and tried to read, but his mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of her to concentrate on reading. Soon his imagination was running away with him as he started to picture what the rest of their lives might be like together, making a life for themselves like he had seen many loving couples do together in Asgard, the way his own Mother and the Allfather had done, the way that Thor wanted to do with that Midgard girl of his. Once again he felt a twinge of guilt for having denied his brother such a chance. In his youth, the pair of them had always scoffed at the notion of falling in love, maintaining that the rule of Asgard would always be more important than any woman, especially one from Midgard, and yet now they had both fallen completely head over heels for Midgard women and couldn’t picture life without them.

 

He made a mental note that the first thing he would do if he ever saw Thor again was apologise to him, and just pray that his brother could forgive him.

 

The whole day seemed to drag, but eventually Ash came back, with two white envelopes amid her workload of magazines, he noticed. He smiled, even though he felt a slight twinge of jealousy at the same time. “More secret Valentines?”

 

“You tell me,” she answered, holding them out to him. “Someone left them on my desk for you.”

 

Loki was more than surprised as he took them from her. “Well...who could they be from?”

 

“No idea,” Ash smiled. “Although one could be from Mark, I suppose.”

 

“Ha, ha,” Loki smiled, drily, opening the first card, which was rather unsubtle, with a bright red heart and a couple of cartoon characters he didn’t recognise and with the words “Will you be my Valentine?” written in bubble writing, on it, and which bore the message “Be mine, and not just for today...” inside it very swirly writing.

 

Ash leaned over his shoulder and smiled. “Ah. That looks like Jenna’s writing, actually, the way she writes her “e”s.”

 

Loki couldn’t help feeling a little smug in spite of maintaining that the girl wasn’t his type. Sometimes it was nice to know that someone liked you even if you didn’t like them back in that way, it was flattering, like having a fan. He opened the other card, which was much more subtle by comparison, very neat pink hearts drawn on the front, hanging from a vine like a pattern of ivy with the words “Happy Valentine’s Day” written on, and inside bearing the simple message “With love from ?”

 

He glanced at her. “Recognise the writing for this one?”

 

Ash shook her head. “Nah, that could be anybody. In the office, I mean,” she added, “otherwise how would they have known to put it on my desk?”

 

Loki nodded and got to his feet, thoughtfully. “So...both of us have secret admirers out there somewhere who are too shy to tell us face to face?”

 

“Hey, you have two,” Ash pointed out. “I have one.”

 

“Well, that means I get to choose which one I prefer,” Loki smirked, looked between both cards and then holding up the more subtle of the two. “And I think I prefer this girl more.”

 

Ash waited until he wasn’t looking at her before she started blushing. After all, it was his first Valentine’s Day on Earth, well, his first Valentine’s Day _ever,_ and she hadn’t wanted him to feel left out.

 

She just hadn’t expected him to prefer her card out of the two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ash's card to Loki: http://thewowstyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/valentines-day-greeting-cards-61.jpg


	17. Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

The more time Loki spent in Midgard, the more he grew used to it. It was a strange realm, yes, with so many things that were either unheard of or unfamiliar to him, but that was only to be expected from somewhere new. Not that he regarded Midgard as “new” anymore, after all he had been there so long that sometimes he forgot the exact circumstances that had led to him landing there in the first place.

 

Some days he found himself wondering if the Bifrost had been fixed, often worrying that it had been. It was, after all, more than likely that should Odin discover that his youngest son had somehow survived the fall from the Bridge, he would come and take him back to Asgard, and then Loki knew that could only mean one thing; eternal incarceration. And that was something he wanted to avoid happening altogether.

 

As such, he figured that it was probably best to live each day on Midgard as if it would be his last there, but when it came to Ash, he found himself quite happy to waste so much time with her. His body and mind would argue with one another, one telling him to let his feelings for her be known, the other then cursing him with a crippling case of nerves that stopped him from doing so. It was like a tug-of-war between wanting to tell her and not being able to.

 

He kept rationalising his feelings of nervousness by telling himself that he had all the time in the world to tell her, and he genuinely believed that. After all, she wasn’t seeing anyone else, he was free to take his time.

 

Or so he thought.

 

The sound of her running into the flat at least half an hour earlier than usual caused him to start, almost throwing his book to the floor, and glance up in surprise as she came hurrying in, carrying an armful of magazines which she promptly dumped onto the living room table in front of him.

 

“Hey, do you mind if we have dinner early tonight? It’s just I’ve got a date,” she said, all in the one breath before moving to the kitchen.

 

Loki’s eyes widened, alarmingly, and he had let out an exclamation of “What?” before he could stop himself.

 

Thankfully, however, Ash seemed to think it was just because she’d spoken so fast that he hadn’t been able to understand a word she was saying. She shot him a grin. “I said, do you mind if we eat early? Only Alex has asked me to go for a drink with him later, but I wanted to make sure you got fed alright.”

 

Loki blinked at her. “Um, fine,” he finally managed to stammer, “but I thought you said you weren’t really interested in dating him?”

 

The word felt strange to him, dating, but on the other hand the idea of her “dating” Alex was somehow more appealing than the idea of them “courting.”

 

“Well, I wasn’t,” Ash admitted, “but, I don’t know, I mean I haven’t had a date in ages, and you never know, it could lead to something.”

 

_No! You’re supposed to be with me, not him!_

Quashing down the writhing feeling of jealousy within his stomach, Loki closed his book and attempted to sound casual as he asked “So, how long do you think you’ll be?”

 

Ash shrugged as she got the dinner going. “Shouldn’t be longer than a couple of hours at most.” She offered him a smile. “Sorry, I know we were going to just chill with a film tonight but-”

 

“It’s alright,” Loki interrupted, smiling reassuringly at her, and inwardly kicking himself for leaving it so long not to tell her. Well, he couldn’t very well tell her now, could he? Not when she might end up dating Alex quite frequently. On the other hand, though, it might not work out and then he could be there for her as the comforting shoulder-to-cry-on type friend when she needed it.

 

He crossed his fingers and prayed for the latter.

 

Dinner was rushed but he barely concentrated on it, too focused on bitterly hating Alex for having jumped in there first and now doing what _he_ should be doing, with _his_ Ash. Of course the man had no way of knowing that he wasn’t the only man in London to have feelings for her, but even so, it felt like this foolish human was invading his territory by asking her out.

 

Even though she wasn’t technically his.

 

The reflection gave him a hollow feeling inside.

 

Once dinner was over, Ash hurried into the bedroom to change, leaving Loki to clear up the dishes with a quick flick of magic, merely because he didn’t trust himself not to break something of hers as a way of taking out his anger towards Alex. He went back to his book, but once again found himself distracted by thoughts of hatred and bitterness, now directed more at himself than at Alex, and he was just berating himself mentally for the twelfth time where there was a knock at the door.

 

“Loki, could you grab that, please? I’m not quite ready!” Ash called.

 

Loki nodded and then, remembering she couldn’t see him, called out “Right!” before getting to his feet. Was it like this with Thor? Would he do anything for his human girl even if it meant being hurt himself in the process? Yes, was probably the answer to that question.

 

Alex smiled in a friendly manner as he opened the door. “Hi.”

 

“Come in and wait,” Loki replied, as politely as he could manage. “She’s not quite ready yet.”

 

“I’ll be there in a minute!” Ash called.

 

“Yeah, right,” Alex grinned, following Loki into the living room. “Women. They always take forever to get ready.”

 

Loki, however, didn’t smile. Instead he took the opportunity to pin Alex to the wall by his shoulder and fix him with his darkest expression. The light seemed to die in Alex’s eyes as he found a very stern and angry God glaring at him.

 

“If you do anything, anything, to upset or hurt her tonight,” Loki hissed, “then I will make you wish that you had never been born.”

 

Alex blinked at him. “Are you threatening me?”

 

“I’m warning you,” Loki returned. “Because I care about her and if I find out that she’s been hurt because of you, then I will personally make your life a living hell.”

 

Alex stared at him. “Oh, my God...you’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

 

Loki scowled at him. “If you don’t want to wake up tomorrow morning floating in the Thames, then I suggest you keep your mouth shut about that and this.”

 

Hearing Ash coming, he quickly released Alex and was back in his seat with his book before Alex could even draw breath. Alex now looked thoroughly scared, but quickly pulled himself together as Ash came in, carrying her coat.

 

“You boys playing nicely?” she teased.

 

Loki quickly saved Alex from coming up with an answer by replying “I was just letting him know what you like to drink. And what to avoid.”

 

Ash missed the meaningful glance he shot Alex upon saying that. Alex turned to her and grinned. “Ready? You look great.”

 

Loki couldn’t deny that he was right. She had changed her usual black and white attire for a bright floral-patterned dress over leggings with a mushroom-coloured satin jacket, that gave her the appearance that she had borrowed her boyfriend’s coat rather than her own, clasped in her arms. She had completed the look with black wedge-shoes and her small evening bag, her hair unpinned and loose from its neat work bun.

 

“Have fun,” he managed to say.

 

Ash smiled as she pulled on her jacket. “See you later.”

 

Alex just gave him a wary look as they left.

 

Once they had gone, Loki groaned as he flopped back against the sofa and ran a hand through his hair. “What am I doing?” he muttered. “Why am I letting her go out with that idiot?”

 

He knew why. Because when you were in love with somebody, you would do anything it took to make them happy, even if it mean sacrificing your own happiness in the process.

 

 _Go after her!_ One part of his mind screamed. _Tell her she’s meant to be with you, not him!_

 

 _No!_ The other part argued. _I can’t do that if it’s not what she wants!_

He waited, trying to concentrate on reading, but it was no good. All thoughts led him straight to Ash. Setting aside the book, he rubbed his eyes and then remembered the pile of magazines she had brought with her from work. Those would need to be finished at some point. He waved a hand at them and they were instantly labelled and stacked in a neat pile on the table. Well, that was something, at least now she didn’t have to waste the rest of the night doing them, it was a kindness.

 

Time seemed to drag, and suddenly for the first time in his life, he wished that Thor could have been beside him, waiting out the minutes with him. For all his faults, he had to admit that Thor had always _tried_ to help him out with any problems he had ever had, even if he hadn’t done a very good job of it.

 

_“Because we’re brothers, Loki,” he had once told him, “and we always will be.”_

 

Maybe that was the reason he still called him “Brother” so easily.

 

The day of the coronation, when the Frost Giants had invaded, the day he and Thor had sat discussing whether or not to invade Jotunheim in return, that had been the last friendsly, brotherly conversation that had ever had together...and even that was a lie. Loki sighed, wishing he hadn’t been so stubborn, wishing he hadn’t pushed his brother away, especially now when he actually needed something from him.

 

He lost track of how long he had sat there for, just thinking and staring into space, when a sudden ringing caused him to almost leap off the sofa. Annoyed, he glared at the device she called “the telephone” before remembering that there was a button he had to press in order to make it stop, and to find out who was on the other end of the line. Hesitantly, he managed to remember everything she had taught him about using it and found the right button easily before answering “Hello?”

 

“Hey,” came Ash’s voice, sounding rather chipper. It was probably the alcohol, he reflected. “Everything alright? I’m not going to come back and find my flat in ruins, am I?”

 

“Wishful thinking,” Loki teased back, causing her to laugh. “How’s it going?”

 

“Oh, it’s gone,” Ash replied. “I’m walking back now.”

 

“Alone?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Loki was surprised, and then relieved, but he showed neither as he said “He’s not going to be the gentleman and walk you back?”

 

“No, actually, I don’t think it’s going to work,” Ash replied. “I mean, he’s nice and everything, but he seemed really distant tonight, like he was distracted by something.” She paused before adding “Mind you, the girl who served us was very pretty.”

 

“Don’t say that,” Loki said, mentally kicking himself again. He knew exactly what Alex had been worried about and he hadn’t meant for it to interfere with their “date” in any way. “He probably had something at home to worry about or something, family issues, maybe.”

 

“Well, maybe you’re right, but I think tonight proved he’s definitely not my type anyway,” Ash replied, perking up a little. “I mean, I think-”

 

She broke off suddenly, which worried Loki.

 

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

 

“Um...I’m going to call you back...”

 

The line went dead and Loki frowned before springing to his feet and mentally seeking her out. Something told him that she needed him right now.

 

Standing where she was, Ash tried her best to remain calm. She had taken a wrong turn, which was only natural in a place the size of London, but she cursed herself inwardly for not looking where she was going. She had turned down one of the darker, seedier allies on her way by accident, one which was currently being frequented by three men who certainly did not look like the kind to be messed with, in a dark alley or out of it.

 

Wheeling about, she was all set to go when one of them suddenly bounded in front of her. “Whoa, love,” he leered at her. “Lost, are we?”

 

Ash managed a false smile as she stammered “Just...trying to get home, is all.”

 

One of them behind her touched her elbow and she jumped, wrenching her arm free of him. “Whoa, slow down, girlie,” he grinned, showing several missing teeth. “We don’t bite, do we, lads?”

 

Ash swallowed and tried hard not to be scared, but she was already shaking. “Look, I really need to go, so if you could just..?”

 

She tried to dodge past the first one, but he shot out an arm and blocked her escape. “What’s the hurry?” he asked, lecherously speaking to her chest rather than her face. “Stay and have a little fun.”

 

Ash wondered about screaming for help, but would anyone hear her? More to the point, would they come in time? She tried ducking under his arm but he caught hold of her and pinned her to the wall, knocking all the breath out of her.

 

“I get her first,” growled the third man, who hadn’t said anything until this moment.

 

Before any of them could touch her, however, everything suddenly happened very fast. A blast of green light hit the one holding her and he was thrown off his feet, rolling over and over in mid-air until he crashed into the nearby dustbins with an enormous clang. His companions whipped their heads around and Ash glanced up in time to see a blur of green and gold whirl past her, knocking the two other men off their feet too. They both landed hard, scrambled to their feet with yelps of panic and took off down the alley. Their leader raised his head in time to see Loki seize the front of his shirt and haul him upright.

 

“Have you never learned what happens when you ignore a girl that tells you “No?” Loki asked, coolly, his sceptre level with the man’s throat. The man gave a whimper and squirmed against the God’s grip. With a smirk, Loki threw him down again and as the man scrambled to his feet, he sent another bolt of energy at him that sent him screaming out of sight.

 

Ash let out a sigh of relief and then slumped onto a nearby box, resting her arms on her knees and her head in her arms. “I’m such an idiot,” she scolded herself.

 

Loki went and crouched beside her, touching her shoulder, now more concerned than anything. “Are you alright?” he asked.

 

At his touch, Ash raised her head with a “Yes, I’m fine,” and then to his surprise she began to laugh.

 

Wondering if she was in her right mind, he asked “What?”

 

“I’m sorry, it’s that helmet,” Ash giggled.

 

He had forgotten that he had automatically changed into his Asgardian armour in order to protect her. Remaining dignified as ever, he quickly changed back into the clothes he had been wearing earlier before folding his arms and fixing her with a scowl. “I’ll have you know it’s all the range on Asgard.”

 

Sobering up, Ash smiled at him. “Sorry, it just took me by surprise, is all. Those men must have thought you were the Devil himself.”

 

Returning her smile, Loki got to his feet and held out his hands to help her up. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” he said.

 

Taking his hands, Ash gave him a grateful look and allowed him to pull her to her feet before he teleported them both back to the flat. She sank onto the sofa with relief. “Just can’t believe how stupid I was not to watch where I was going.” Then, as Loki sat back down beside her, she added “Thanks for that, by the way. You saved me from God knows what.”

 

“Well, I don’t _know_ what, but I have a fairly good idea,” Loki quipped, causing her to laugh again. “Maybe next time you should make sure your date walks you home.”

 

“Mm, or get a cab,” Ash agreed, getting to her feet. She yawned. “Well, I think that’s enough excitement for me tonight. I’m off to bed.”

 

Loki nodded. “Me too.”

 

As he got to his feet, she walked over and hugged him tightly. “See?” she grinned. “You _can_ be the hero of the story, like your brother. You don’t have to be the villain.”

 

Loki just smiled as she walked away before stretching and making a quick decision. This had been too close a call for him. She could have ended up with Alex. Or she could have ended up being seriously hurt by those men due to walking home alone at night. Either way, there was now only one course of action he could take.

 

Ask her out.

 

Preferably tomorrow, Friday.

 

And he had a pretty good idea of how to go about it.


	18. Finally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

“Ouch!”

 

Mentally cursing himself for getting too close to the pan without some form of protection, Loki sighed and concentrated on healing the burn with his magic, before turning a glare on the stove.

 

“Look,” he muttered, aware that he was talking to an inanimate object and more to convince himself he could do this than anything, “if this going to work, then we are going to have to co-operate together, aren’t we? So, no more burns, alright?”

 

The pan of hot water just continued to bubble on the stove, and he took a deep breath before picking up the book he had dug out of a pile on the edge of the kitchen table, trying to work out what to do next.

 

“Add pasta to boiling water and cook until soft.”

 

Loki wrinkled his nose. Wouldn’t it just make more sense to put the pasta in the water and then boil it altogether? Sometimes humanity really confused him. Still, he did as instructed, being extremely careful this time to avoid being burned or scalded again. It seemed simply enough, just stirring the stuff about until it turned a paler colour and became soft and squashy to touch. Everything else was ready, thereabouts, it was just a matter of throwing it all together and praying that it didn’t overcook or burn in the oven. Still, he reasoned, if that did happen, after all it was his first attempt at doing something like this without Ash around, they could always order a take away. It would be less romantic but at least she wouldn’t go hungry.

 

Not for the first time since meeting her, he muttered “What are you doing to me, Ash?” as he ran a hand through his hair. How much he had changed since she had entered his life, how much more considerate he was, and more regretful of his actions on Asgard, in fact looking back, he realised that he didn’t like that person, the person he used to be before he met her, but he liked the person that she had made him now. She had changed him without even realising she had done it, and he was grateful to her for that.

 

Once he was satisfied with what he had made, it was just a matter of popping the whole dish into the oven and carefully timing it. After about twenty minutes reading on the sofa, he got to his feet and padded about the kitchen, making sure that everything was perfect. The table was already set, and with a quick flick of his hand, the dirty dishes were washed and drying on the draining board. Loki stepped back to admire his handiwork and his brow furrowed, something was missing. Then, with a smile, he conjured a pot of orchids, perfectly white and pink, and not a moment too soon, for a second later he heard the front door open and close.

 

Showtime, Loki realised, suddenly nervous for the first time. What if she rejected him? What if it made things awkward between them? He pushed that thought out of mind. No, that couldn’t happen, it wouldn’t happen, it had to work out as he was hoping, but if it didn’t, he had to make sure that she knew he would never force the issue, never pressure her into it if it wasn’t what she wanted.

 

He let out a breath he didn’t even realise he’d been holding as the kitchen door opened and Ash sighed as she came in, dumping her bag on the sofa. “You would not believe the day I’ve had,” she began, turning to him, “I mean, talk about-!” She broke off, seeing the orchids and came up, Loki managing to hide his smug smile as she did so, and reached out to touch one. With a surprised smile, she turned to look at him. “What are these for?”

 

Loki shrugged. “I thought you might need cheering up a bit.”

 

Ash leaned forwards to inhale their scent, before asking “How did you know they were my favourites?” and then adding, knowingly, _“Loki,_ did you read my mind again?”

 

Loki flushed. “I may have done.”

 

Ash giggled, in that sweet way of hers, and then, seeing the table set, added “Aw, and dinner too?” Then, glancing at him, she asked, “Loki, are you after something?”

 

It was now or never, Loki realised, as he stepped closer to her. Gently lifting her chin so that she was looking into his eyes, he said, softly, “Yes,” before leaning in and pressing his lips to hers. To both his surprise and relief, Ash not only let him, she responded, pressing up against him and parting her lips to give him access to her entire mouth. Loki lost himself in kissing her, because she was amazing at it, before realising that he had probably take it too far and pulling back to give them both room to breathe.

 

Ash blinked up at him and then said, breathlessly, “Forget dinner, I want to see what’s for dessert.”

 

Loki chuckled, softly, moving his hand to wind his fingers through her soft, dark hair. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time,” he admitted.

 

“Well, why didn’t you?” Ash asked.

 

“Because I didn’t know if it was something you wanted,” Loki replied, softly.

 

Ash gave him a fond look and then murmured “Come here,” as she wound her arms about him and kissed him again. Loki wrapped his arms around her waist and responded with an equal amount of enthusiasm, his mind reeling. She actually wanted him back. He couldn’t believe it, and yet, it was real, it was happening.

 

He quickly broke the kiss with a murmur of “Mm, dinner,” and Ash smiled as she slid into a chair, watching him pull the dish out of the oven.

 

She shook her head. “It’s happened! I’ve domesticated you!”

 

“Only a little,” Loki replied, with a mischievous look that made her laugh. Thankfully, the food hadn’t been burned and they both ate with that sense that something had changed in the air, in comfortable silence, shooting one another slightly flirtatious looks as they did so, and Loki felt a stirring of something very much like relief, and pleasure, quivering inside him.

 

“So, what now?” Ash finally asked, breaking the silence as they cleared the dishes.

 

Loki felt himself flushing again. “Well, I’d very much like to be your...” He frowned and asked “What’s that word you use here?”

 

“Boyfriend?” Ash guessed.

 

“Right,” Loki replied, mentally kicking himself for not coming up with a smoother way of asking her.

 

Ashe didn’t seem to mind, however, as she slipped closer to him and took his hand. “Well, I’d very much like to be your girlfriend, Loki, so...”

 

Loki took the initiative and kissed her again, feeling a mingling of different emotions all at once. “Ash, I’m going to treat you the way you deserve,” he murmured between kisses, “I promise, I’m never going to scare you or hurt you ever again.”

 

“I know, Loki,” Ash whispered, clinging to him tightly. “I trust you.”

 

Their kisses became more intense, their touches more frequent, and before Loki had time to even blink, Ash had dragged him into her bedroom and they were both lying together on her bed, touching and kissing whatever part of the other they could get to amid their tangle of limbs.

 

“Are you sure you want this?” Loki whispered, urgently, overcome with a desire to take her, but just barely holding back in case it was moving too fast for her.

 

Ash gave him a look. “Loki, I haven’t had a boyfriend to do this with in _months.”_

 

Loki raised his eyebrows. “Fair enough,” he muttered, before flipping her underneath him. He felt her smile against his lips before he moved lower, kissing a trail down her neck and as far beneath her collar as he could reach.

 

Ash sighed and thrust her hips upwards to meet his. “Loki...”

 

She didn’t need to say anything else. In one quick magical movement, he had them both completely devoid of clothing and he paused a moment, drinking in her absolutely perfect body for the second time in his life. Admittedly the first time he had only had a glimpse of it, but it had been enough, and now he ran his eyes over her smooth curves and soft skin, not with malicious intent, but with pure awe.

 

“You are beautiful,” he whispered, leaning down to kiss her again. Her lips were so unbelievably soft and he felt like his heart would explode at any minute from the pressure building up inside him.

 

“I bet you say that to all the girls,” Ash teased, lightly.

 

He smiled down at her. “No. Because in all of the Nine Realms, I have never come across someone as beautiful as you.”

 

Ash felt her heart give a little kick as she leaned up kiss him again. Loki realised that he felt sorry for everyone else in the whole of the Nine Realms right now, because they weren’t like this with Ash, they weren’t being held by her, sharing sweet kisses and a lot more besides.

 

Pressing closer to her, he kissed his way down her body, emitting a tiny moan from her and the occasional twitch and thrust of her hips until he reached her secret space. His fingers quickly worked their way inside her and she let out a gasp as he hit that spot just right, leaving her stuttering incoherently as her fingers gripped the pillow beneath her, writhing slightly at the feel of his kisses against her labia.

 

“Come for me, Ash,” Loki whispered.

 

“God, Loki...!” Ash gasped, feeling herself come undone in a great wash, and Loki managed not to smirk at her pun. She reached for him and he side inside her in one quick thrust, having grown hard for her the second he saw her naked. They clung to one another, building the natural rhythm that soon had them both moaning for release, both of them spilling over the brink in the exact same moment and Loki collapsed against her, a shudder of relief rippling through him.

 

“Norns, Ash, you feel so wonderful,” he sighed.

 

She reached up as he nuzzled the crook of her neck and ran her hands through his hair. They lay like that for a long while, soft touches soothing one another until Loki finally pulled out of her and tugged her into a warm embrace, nuzzling the top of her head.

 

“Loki, can I ask you something?” she murmured, presently.

 

“Of course,” Loki replied.

 

Ash raised her head to look him in the eyes. “Did you send me the flowers on Valentine’s Day?”

 

He smiled at her. “Was I that obvious?”

 

“No,” Ash replied, her eyes brightening, “but I did hope that it might have been you.” She reached up and kissed him. “Thank you, it was very sweet. And, um, speaking of Valentine’s Day, I’ve got a confession to make too.”

 

Loki had a feeling he knew what she was going to say before she even said it. “The other card?”

 

Ash nodded, and then ducked her eyes, embarrassed. “Just...didn’t want you to feel left out, is all.” Loki’s response was to kiss her hair with a soft murmur of “Thank you,” and she looked back up at him, her eyes hopeful now. “So...does this mean you’ll be moving back in here with me, then? I have kind of missed sharing a bed with you.”

 

Loki smiled and lifted her hand to press a kiss to the back of it. “Lady Ash, I would be honoured.”

 

Sleep came on quickly for both of them, and for Loki it was the best sleep of his life, with Ash curled up in his arms, wanting him the same way he wanted her. When morning came, though, Ash was surprised to find herself alone in the room.

 

“Loki?” she murmured, wiping sleep from her eyes and stretching. Finding no sign of him in the room, she clambered out of bed, and then smiled in relief, seeing that Loki had already moved his books and clothes back into her room. Shaking her tousled hair out of her eyes, Ash reached for the tunic he had worn the night before, which had landed on the floor along with all their other clothes, and pulled it on, just in time to hear an exclamation of “Hel!” coming from the kitchen.

 

Startled, she made her way in there to find Loki on his knees, mopping up a patch of spilled water with some kitchen roll and muttering to himself “Damn, such an idiot!” Glancing over him, Ash noticed two cups, one overfilled with hot water, and smiled as she realised what was going on.

 

“Are you sure I haven’t domesticated you too much?” she teased.

 

Loki look up and offered her a sheepish smile. “I was trying not to make a mess.”

 

“Trying but not succeeding,” Ash teased, and he laughed before throwing the kitchen towel away and clearing up the rest of the mess with magic. Then, he noticed what she was wearing and smiled.

 

“You look beautiful in my colours,” he told her.

 

Ash smiled and spread her arms, showing how much room was in his tunic on her. “It’s like being hugged by you.”

 

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer the real thing?”

 

“Who said I wouldn’t?” Ash teased, before stepping into his arms. Loki folded them around her, pressing a soft kiss to her lips before pulling her close and closing his eyes. She did look absolutely beautiful, even with her hair mussed and wearing nothing but his tunic, well, _especially_ wearing nothing but his tunic. Ash, for her part, felt that she was in serious danger of falling for this man, this God, and yet she was surprisingly alright with that. “Let’s go out,” she said, presently, pulling away but not stepping out of his arms just yet.

 

“I assumed that that was what we were doing already,” Loki replied.

 

She laughed. “No, I mean let’s go outside, later, take a walk or something.” Then, seductively playing with the ties on the tunic he was wearing, she added mischievously, “Maybe holding hands this time?”

 

Loki pretended to think about it. “Go outside and show the whole world that I’m proud you’re mine?” He fixed her with an equally mischievous look. “That sounds good to me.”

 

In one swift move, he had picked her up and pressed her against the wall, lips locked against hers. Ash smiled and wrapped her legs around his waist, feeling that they would definitely have some kind of “Round Two” any second now.

 

“For the record,” she whispered, breathlessly, “I’m proud you’re mine too.”


	19. Frost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

“I _definitely_ need to wash my bedding.”

 

Loki laughed. “I can do that for you, you know.”

 

“What, and put the washing machine out of a job?” Ash smiled as she finally found the strength to push herself upright. “Anyway, knowing you, you’d make them green just to annoy me.”

 

Loki watched as she swept her hair out of her eyes, watching all the delicate curves of her body that he had become so used to having pressed to his own. He couldn’t remember making love to anyone so many times before, and now, he realised, she was the only person he ever wanted to make love to, ever.

 

He reached out and stroked his fingers tantalisingly against her hip, tracing the curve of her body to her lower back and loving the way she twitched slightly, shuddering against his touch.

 

“Loki,” Ash smiled, trying to be firm, but it was hard when he was touching her like that.

 

“What?” Loki asked, feigning innocence even as he grinned at her, his fingers moving up her spine now, stroking in between her shoulder blades. Ash sighed, closing her eyes and then flopped down beside him.

 

“You’re going to be the death of me, God of Mischief,” she murmured, snuggling against him, her lips briefly finding his before she nuzzled up to him. Loki smiled and brought his arms around her properly, pressing her close against him. He still couldn’t believe how easy this had been, to win her, but then, he reflected, most other women he had ever wanted had ignored him in favour of his brother. And something told him that even if Thor had been present all along, Ash still would have chosen him.

 

His heart stuttered.

 

Would she? There was still one thing she didn’t know.

 

He took a deep breath. “Ash?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“You remember when I told you about...being a Frost Giant?”

 

Her eyes swivelled up to his. “Yes.”

 

Awkwardly, Loki eased himself out from under her and sat up. “Well, I didn’t quite tell you everything,” he admitted.

 

With a frown, Ash pushed herself up on her elbow. “What do you mean?”

 

Loki gave her a sad smile. “Frost Giants don’t look like us.” He got to his feet and closed his eyes tightly, balling his hands into fists, preparing himself for whatever her reaction might be. He just hoped that she wouldn’t scream. “This is my true form.”

 

Ash watched, slightly alarmed, as his skin began to turn from pale, ordinary flesh colour to grey blue, and she felt her jaw drop, but no sound came out. Loki tensed, awaiting her reaction, and when she still said nothing, he turned to her, opening his eyes to show her that they had turned from green to bright red, like they were on fire. Ash just looked at him, taking it all in, trying to decide how she was feeling about all this.

 

“They all look like that?” she managed to say, finally.

 

Loki nodded and then to his alarm she leaned forwards, one hand outstretched to touch him. He quickly flinched away, out of her reach. “Don’t!” She jumped, looking confused and Loki sighed. “I’ll burn you. My skin’s _that_ cold.”

 

Ash lowered her hand, the look in her eyes unreadable. Not for the first time since learning the truth about his heritage, Loki felt ashamed of it.

 

“I can’t even touch you like this?” Ash asked, getting to her feet.

 

Loki shook his head. “Please...I don’t want to hurt you.”

 

Slowly, Ash reached up her hand, stopping it inches away from cupping his face, and looked straight into his eyes. She wasn’t afraid, Loki realised, she wanted to comfort him, wanted to show him that she was alright with this.

 

“Can you change back, please?” she whispered. “I want to touch you.”

 

“You’re not afraid of me?” Loki asked, his voice cracking slightly.

 

She shook her head. “You’re not a monster, Loki.” He looked away from her, a motion of disbelief. “You’re not.”

 

“You know all the things I’ve done,” Loki said, speaking to her reflection in the window rather than directly to her. It was painful to look at her in this form, especially at seeing her reaction to his revelation. “You saw the way I was when I first met you.”

 

“You were in a new place, and you were scared,” Ash insisted, firmly. “You reacted to the situation the only way you’d ever done back on Asgard. I’d have been the same.”

 

“You wouldn’t,” Loki replied, bluntly. His eyes fixed on hers in the window. “You’re human. You react to things like that the way humans do, with a lot of questions and fears. Frost Giant blood runs in my veins.” His fists tightened. “I inherited my nature from them.” He relaxed his hands with a sigh, ducking his head. “I’m a monster.”

 

“No,” Ash argued. “Loki, please look at me. You’re not.”

 

He finally swivelled his gaze to hers. “Yes, I am.”

 

Ash could only think of one thing to do to convince him otherwise, and that was to grab cup his face and kiss him. Loki quickly pulled away from her as she squeaked with the pain of being burned from his skin.

 

“You idiot!” he scolded, shifting back to his Aesir form so that he could grab her hands in his and examine them. His heart lurched. She had only touched him briefly, so the burns weren’t as bad as he had feared, not like Volstagg’s arm when that Frost Giant had grabbed him during their battle on Jotunheim, just reddened, like someone had thrown scarlet paint onto her hands. Her lips looked the same. The skin wasn’t blistered, though, thankfully, so they would soon heal, with some help. He quickly pulled her back onto the bed, conjuring up a pot of salve he had sneaked from the Healing Room not long before being thrown from the Bifrost Bridge, and thanking the Norns mentally that he had thought to do so. “What were you thinking?”

 

“Ow!” Ash murmured, touching the back of her hand to her mouth and shuddering.

 

Loki shook his head and turned her hand over to apply the salve. “This will heal them,” he said, not looking in her eyes. How could she have been so reckless? Especially when he had just warned her about what would happen if she did that? He shook his head, willing himself not to shout at her as he took her other hand and rubbed the salve into her palm. Ash watched him, trusting as a child, her eyes wide and innocent. Raising his eyes to hers, Loki gently applied the salve to her lips, which Ash willingly parted, slightly, to allow him better access.

 

“I panicked,” she finally said. “I didn’t know what else to say to make you believe me.”

 

“I told you it would burn you,” Loki replied, tersely. “Why didn’t you listen to me?”

 

“Because I didn’t think it would work if it was only for a second,” Ash replied, sounding slightly irritated that he was snapping at her.

 

Loki grasped her face firmly between his hands, fixing her with a look. “Never do that again. Next time it could be worse.”She nodded, once, briefly, and he released her, before wrapping her in a tight hug. “I’m sorry.” His voice was softer now. “I just care about you. I never want to hurt you.”

 

Ash gave a small sigh and then admitted “It was my own fault. I’m British, we just do daft things sometimes.” Starting wars in other countries for one, she reflected, but didn’t bother to mention it. “Sorry.” She buried her face in the crook of his neck. “I should have listened.”

 

Loki smiled. “On the plus side, you’re the first human who’s ever been brave enough to kiss a Frost Giant.”

 

“Well, in that case, I’m not sorry,” Ash said into his neck and he laughed. Raising her eyes to his, she managed a small smile of her own. “You don’t look like a monster like that, Loki. If that’s why people in Asgard freak out about Frost Giants, then there must be something wrong with them.”

 

“It’s not just that,” Loki replied. “Most of them are vicious by nature, savage, and terrifyingly good at winning battles, that’s why they’re feared so much in the Nine Realms. And being huge doesn’t exactly help matters.”

 

Ash giggled. “But you’re not huge,” she reminded him, kissing his shoulder a few times.

 

“Well, I told you, I was born too small, it happens,” Loki murmured.

 

Ash thought for a second. “Do you think you might have been premature?”

 

“That might have been something to do with it,” Loki replied. “I never found out.”

 

“Well, you’re the perfect size for me,” Ash murmured, hugging him.

 

“Oh, I know that,” Loki teased.

 

Ash closed her eyes. “That’s not what I meant and you know it, Loki.”

 

“Well, you should learn to be careful what you say,” he replied, grinning. Ash gave him a feeble punch and then snuggled against him. “How are you feeling now?”

 

“Tingly,” Ash replied, pulling away from him and glancing at her hands.

 

Loki nodded. “That means it’s working.”

 

Ash took a deep breath. “I’m glad you showed me. Shows you trust me.”

 

He smiled, gently, at her. “I trust you more than I’ve ever trusted anyone in my life before.”

 

Briefly, he wondered if Thor had felt like this with his Midgard girl, if he felt that in meeting her he had found the missing piece of his life he had been searching for all these years. Something told him that yes, he had.

 

Ash squeezed his hands, gently, in hers. “I trust you too, Loki. And I don’t care what you say, you may have done some bad things in your life, but you’ve done good things too.”

 

Loki raised his eyebrows. “Name one.”

 

“Saving me that night in the alley,” Ash replied. “Giving me personal space when you thought I needed it. Coming with me to face my family at New Year.”

 

“That’s three, I said one,” Loki teased, and she laughed.

 

“You’re always there for me when I need you,” she added, softly.

 

Loki ducked his head. “What about the time I abandoned you and you had a breakdown?”

 

Ash smiled, understandingly. “You only did that because you thought it was what I wanted. And you came back when you sensed I wanted you back.”

 

Loki raised one of her hands and pressed a kiss to her tingling palm. “I’m never leaving you ever again, Ash. I promise.”

 

She smiled, reached forwards and hugged him. Loki closed his eyes, loving the feeling of having her in his arms. When he had fallen into here from the Bifrost, he had thought that this would be the end of him, but it hadn’t been, it had been the door to a whole new beginning, a beginning involving the most wonderful woman who had ever existed. He badly wanted to tell her that he loved her, but was it too soon? After all, they had only been courting a few days.

 

“Loki?” Ash’s voice brought him back to the present.

 

“Yes, Ash?” he murmured.

 

“Will I still be able to eat and drink after that?”

 

Loki laughed. “Yes, you’ll be fine.”

 

“In that case, you can bring me a cup of tea,” Ash smiled, pulling away from him and clambering off the bed, reaching for his discarded shirt and pulling it over her head. She turned and grinned at his stunned expression. “After you’ve put the sheets in to wash.”

 

With a grin, Loki seized her around the waist and pulled her back down onto the bed. Ash laughed as he kissed her, passionately, before rolling her underneath him, giving her a tender look. “Thank you. For accepting me as I am, I mean.”

 

Ash smiled up at him. “God or Frost Giant, I don’t care, as long as you’re mine.”

 

“I’m yours forever,” Loki vowed, kissing her again.


	20. Easter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

As the end of March approached, Loki’s prediction that the salve would quickly heal the burns came true. Soon they had completely vanished, although he knew it had been a close call, if Ash had kissed him or held him any longer the damage could have been a lot worse.

 

Still, she had promised not to touch him in that form again, so all was as well as it could be.

 

Now, it appeared, another Midgardian holiday was fast approaching, called Easter, and for once, Ash mentioned, she was quite looking forward to it.

 

“Really, though, I think it’s just a good excuse to scoff chocolate every year, same as Christmas,” she added, snuggling closer to him on the sofa. They hadn’t made love in two days because she was on her “period” as the humans called it, a concept Loki was only familiar with when she actually told him what it meant. On Asgard it was generally known as “starting courses,” but at that Ash simply wrinkled her nose and maintained that Earth’s name was better, which had resulted in a tickle fight between them, and naturally Loki had won. In spite of her monthly flow, however, he had managed to arouse her just that morning before she left for work by pinning her against the wall, kissing her breathless and whispering that he really didn’t want her to go. Now, though, he was content just to hold her as she introduced him to Titanic, which, in Loki’s view, had a rather flimsy storyline but the scene where Rose told Jack “You jump, I jump, right?” made him cuddle Ash a little tighter.

 

“I just can’t get over the fact that you have a holiday that celebrates death.” Loki wrinkled his nose. “Sounds more like something a Dark Elf would come up with.”

 

“Not _death,_ Loki,” Ash insisted, making herself more comfortable in his arms. “Resurrection, he comes back to life at the end of the story and everyone’s happy.” She hesitated and then added “Well, apart from the people who wanted to kill him, they were probably pretty pissed when they found out.”

 

Loki laughed, softly and after that they were both quiet for a while, watching the ship sink and Rose finally let Jack slip away from her into the icy waters. He shook his head, quietly. “Sometimes I wonder what the point of love stories are if people don’t end up together at the end.”

 

“You like Romeo and Juliet, though, don’t you?” Ash frowned, glancing up at him.

 

“Well, yes, but in death that _was_ the only way they could be together,” Loki pointed out. “I mean, how else could it have ended? Their families hated each other, and even if they’d been allowed to be together, who’s to say Romeo wouldn’t fall in love with someone else as quickly as he fell in love with Juliet? I mean, he was in love with Rosaline first, who’s to say it wouldn’t happen again?”

 

Ash looked thoughtful and then nodded. “I suppose you’re right,” she agreed, settling against him again. “But I think this film’s not so much about the love story, but more about how meeting Jack changes Rose’s life for good. I mean, look at all the things she’s done,” she added, waving at the screen as it showed the photographs from Rose’s life after Titanic. A woman alone in those days wouldn’t have had much opportunity to do all that, but she still did.”

 

The film finished and they both sat up, stretching sleeping muscles as they moved briefly apart.

 

“Mm,” Ash sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t know, when I was younger everyone always said “You’ll cry at Titanic,” but I never do. I just don’t feel like Jack’s death was dramatic enough for that. Mind you, if he’d been an animal or something, I’d have been in floods of tears.”

 

Loki smiled as he got to his feet. “Well, I hope you’d be in flood of tears if anything like that happened to me.”

 

He said it teasingly but there was a deeper meaning behind his words, a hope that perhaps she did care for him as deeply as he cared for her.

 

“Of course I would,” Ash replied, her expression serious as she got to her feet and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I happen to be very fond of you, Loki.”

 

“Really?” He grinned at her, teasingly. “Because as I recall last night, you wanted to kill me.”

 

“Oh, are you still going on about that?” Ash mock-groaned, rolling her eyes.

 

“Ash, you threw a frying pan at me.”

 

“Well, I was annoyed. I do happen to like my kitchen table.”

 

“I didn’t mean to set fire to it,” Loki pointed out. “Anyway, you should have known I could repair the damage for you.”

 

“Yeah, sorry,” Ash murmured, leaning against him. “Time of the month kind of makes me a bit crazy, maybe I should have warned you about that before you moved in.”

 

Loki laughed and then, to her surprise, he picked her up, bridal-style, and carried her to the bedroom. “Well, at least now we know that if anyone ever tries to break into this place, we can both take them down easily.”

 

Ash giggled as he laid her on the bed. “You know, you don’t have to be so gentle with me, Loki, I’m not made of glass.”

 

“I know, but I want to make sure you’re comfortable.” Loki offered her a tender look. “You’re my first real relationship, you know that?”

 

She patted the bed and he lay down beside her so that she could snuggle up to him again. “I don’t get why. You’re very good at it.”

 

“You’ve not met my brother, though,” Loki reminded her.

 

“No, but I doubt he can be a patch on you,” Ash replied, shrugging. “I don’t see how anyone could.” She felt him chuckle as he kissed the top of her head. “No, I’m serious. You’re so...god-like, I don’t know, you just have this powerful aura about you that’s very attractive.”

 

Loki allowed her words to sink in before murmuring “Thank you.”

 

“You’re welcome,” Ash murmured back, yawning a little. “Mm, see you in the morning, Easter morning.”

 

“Goodnight, Ash,” Loki murmured, feeling a tingling of excitement as he wondered how she would react to the surprise he had planned for the next evening.

 

Morning came, and he did his best not to get under her feet as she rushed about getting ready for work, the usual routine ending with a hurried “Bye, I’ll see you later,” and a quick kiss that he tried to prolong until she pushed him playfully away with a giggle and hurried out of the flat. Once she was gone, Loki immediately waved away the illusion of a pile of books he was supposed to put away to reveal the two small plastic carry cases on the chair closest to the bookshelf.

 

“Now, you two,” he muttered, bending down to peer inside them, “I don’t know much about animals like you, but please try to behave before she gets home.”

 

Ash was a bit late home, as it turned out, because as luck would have it, Miranda dumped an extra workload on her desk at the last minute, which would have annoyed her on any day of the week, but especially now that she actually had a boyfriend to be spending Easter with. On the plus side, however, Mark had turned up, bearing gifts in the form of an Easter egg for both of them, so that cheered her up a little and she even managed a bit of a spring in her step as she made her way home with her arms full of magazines and her bag bulging with two boxes with the words Cadbury’s Chocolate Egg printed on the sides of them.

 

Of course, when she opened the door and found Loki on his hands and knees trying to catch hold of a tiny ball of black fluff, she almost dropped everything she was holding.

 

“Loki, what is that?”

 

He turned to her, looking rather sheepish. “A rabbit.” Then, he glanced at the little animal that was beginning to sniff the air in front of it. “That won’t do what it’s told, will you come here?”

 

The rabbit simply began sniffing the carpet and then started to wash its face.

 

Ash giggled and then noticed in a small pen in the corner of the room that there was another rabbit, a white one this time, equally as cute and fluffy.

 

“Loki, what are they doing here?” she asked.

 

He gave her another embarrassed look. “Well, they symbolise Easter, don’t they? I mean you have that Easter Rabbit thing...”

 

“Easter Bunny,” Ash corrected him, and Loki rolled his eyes at the fluffier form of the word. “And I think you might be a little bit confused, people don’t really have rabbits in their houses because it’s Easter.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Seeing him deflate, slightly, Ash backtracked and crouched down by the run, reaching in to stroke the little white one. “But they are very cute, where did you get them?”

 

“The shelter,” Loki replied, finally looking at her properly, temporarily abandoning all attempts to make the black rabbit do what it was told. “Someone had just abandoned the pregnant mother in an old shed and most of them had already found homes by the time I got there. These were the last.”

 

“Aw...” Ash felt her heart melt a little at that. “And you rescued them? That’s so sweet.”

 

Loki flushed. “Well...”

 

Before he could finish, the little black rabbit finally approached and began to sniff at his knees. Ash giggled as it put both paws on one of Loki’s legs and sniffed upwards. “I think that one likes you.”

 

Loki looked alarmed. “No,” he said to the rabbit, firmly. “You’re hers.”

 

Ash laughed again, however, as the rabbit hopped into Loki’s lap and he sighed. “I think he wants to be yours, Loki.”

 

“I don’t like fluffy things,” Loki told the rabbit, “now get down.”

 

“They’re not like dogs, Loki, you can’t make them do what you say,” Ash giggled.

 

“I give up,” Loki muttered, shaking his head and finally scooping up the thing in his hands. “Some animals you just can’t talk to.”

 

Ash smiled and scooped up the white rabbit. “Well, thank you, they’re very cute, and I don’t ever remember the landlord saying No Pets in general, just No Cats or Dogs. We can train these two up to be house rabbits.” She cuddled the white one as it snuggled into her. “And it’ll be nice to come home to something cute and fluffy, besides you, of course.”

 

Loki stiffened and shot her a playful warning glance. _“Ash...”_

 

“I’m joking,” Ash grinned. “What are you going to call yours?”

 

Loki shrugged. “I’ve never named a rabbit before. Horses and dogs, yes, but never one of these.”

 

“Well, what are some good Asgardian names, then?” Ash asked. “Besides Loki, of course.”

 

Loki grinned at her obvious attempt to make up for calling him “cute.”

 

“What do I call you?” he muttered, holding the black rabbit up to his face and them grimacing as it sniffed and then licked his nose. Ash giggled again as he shook his head. “Well, Koli means “dark,” or dark-skinned, anyway, how about that? What do you think?”

 

The black rabbit didn’t look like it had an opinion one way or another, it just kept sniffing him.

 

“I think he likes that,” Ash grinned. “Wait, that one _is_ a boy, right?”

 

“Yes, they said that at the shelter,” Loki replied, finally putting the black rabbit back in the run. It hopped about a bit, sniffing here and there, and then investigated the contents of the food bowl.

 

“Well, what can I call this one, then?” Ash asked, still stroking the white one.

 

Loki thought for a second. “Well, the name Heidrun means bright or clear, so I suppose that could be the opposite of darkness.”

 

Ash smiled and put her rabbit back in the run. “Thank God they’re not cats, it would sound really weird shouting for them night after night.” Then, she crouched beside him and kissed him. “Thanks, this has been a really good Easter present.”

 

Loki grinned at her. “Better than chocolate?”

 

“Definitely,” Ash insisted.

 

“Well, that’s a shame, because I did get you an egg.”

 

“Aw, and I got you one too. Oh, and Mark gave us one each, we’ll hardly be able to move by the time Easter’s over.”

 

They both laughed and Loki finally got to his feet, bringing her up with him. “Well...Happy Easter, then, Ash.”

 

“Happy Easter, Loki,” Ash whispered, reaching up to kiss him. To her surprise, however, Loki pulled back with a teasing smile.

 

“Should we?” he grinned, nodding towards the rabbits. “I mean...in front of the children..?”

 

“Oh, shush!” Ash laughed, pulling him down to her lips. Loki laughed as he kissed her, before lifting her off her feet, feeling that their first Easter together had definitely been a success.


	21. Temper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
> Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,  
> And now that your rose is in bloom,  
> A light hits the gloom on the grey..." Seal, Kiss from a Rose.

Loki had decided a long time ago that weekends were the best times in a Midgardian week, but now that he and Ash were officially courting, they were especially wonderful. They could lie in bed together until one of them woke the other up with a kiss, they could take the rest of the day easy, either stay indoors and read or play with the rabbits, or go outdoors, get coffee somewhere and take a walk through the park, or even do some of the more touristy things in London – they had taken in some shows at the Globe recently, and Ash was already planning a trip to the Natural History museum – and then in the evenings they would cook together, watch a film and then go to bed.

 

Days like that always felt so perfect.

 

In fact, Loki was finding it difficult to remember that he had actually had a life before crash-landing onto Midgard. Some days he still couldn’t work out how he had actually managed to exist before Ash came into his life. She was just so perfect, everything he had been looking for in a woman. Ironically, he noted, that was probably the one thing he and Thor now had in common, they had both fallen head-over-heels-completely-in-love with Midgard women.

 

On this particular Saturday morning, he had been woken by Ash kissing his cheek lightly before sitting up for a stretch. Loki raised his head and smiled at her. “Good morning, how is my gorgeous girlfriend feeling this fine day?”

 

Ash laughed, softly, attempting to tidy her bed-mussed hair. “You really think I’m gorgeous?”

 

“Of course,” Loki replied, sincerely, sitting up a little. “You’re the most beautiful woman in this realm and any other.”

 

Ash blushed. “That’s very romantic.” She took a deep breath and exhaled, happily. “You know, just when I think I have you all figured out, I keep finding a new side to you. I mean, when we first met, I thought you were, you know, just-”

 

“Evil?” Loki put in.

 

“No!” Ash immediately cuddled up to him. “No, not a bit. I thought you were just arrogant, demanding, frightening, basically just your typical spoiled brat prince, but you’re not, you’re much more complex than that.” She smiled. “That’s what I like about you, you’re unpredictable.”

 

“I would have thought that was a reason not to like someone,” Loki frowned.

 

“Oh, no, women do like their boyfriends to be unpredictable, that way they know they’re always bound to be surprised once in a while,” Ash replied, sitting up and kissing him, smiling at the startled look on his face. “So...hungry?”

 

“Absolutely,” Loki smirked, running his eyes up and down the outline of her body through her blue cotton pyjamas.

 

She swatted his hand away playfully. “I meant for breakfast!”

 

“Of course you did,” Loki teased, seizing her playfully. Ash yelped and then giggled as he pulled her on top of him and began kissing down her neck, tugging her pyjama top to one side to get at her shoulder. “Surprise,” he added, offering her a mischievous look that made her giggle before she leaned down to kiss him.

 

By the time they actually rolled out of bed, the morning was almost over, but they still had a late breakfast, since Ash had been dying to introduce Loki to pancakes and had finally got around to buying maple syrup to go with them, and she managed not to get so distracted by Loki’s kissing that she flipped the pancakes onto the ceiling, although it was a close call until she managed to firmly make him give the rabbits their breakfast, and by the time he was done with that, the pancakes were perfect.

 

Loki shook his head as they ate. “I can’t believe we don’t have these on Asgard. There’s so much we’re missing out on.”

 

Ash hesitated before asking “What do Frost Giants eat? I mean _other_ Frost Giants,” she added, quickly, blushing, “not ones who were raised on Asgard in a golden castle.”

 

Loki smiled, wryly. “Raw meat, I think, is their favoured delicacy.”

 

“Oh.” Ash wrinkled her nose. “In that case, I’m glad you were raised in Asgard.” She hesitated again, in case it was painful for him, before asking “Is it really as beautiful there as you say?”

 

“No,” Loki replied, and then smiled at her again. “It’s better.” Ash smiled as he went on. “But somehow...I never felt like I really belonged there. I was always on the outskirts of everyone else’s lives, watching my brother play with his friends, knowing they never really trusted me and only put up with me because I was, apparently, related to him. And yet when I found out the truth...about me...I didn’t feel like I belonged in Jotunheim either.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I was so ready to die that day, Ash, when I fell from the Bifrost, I thought I might get sucked into the void of nothingness and I didn’t care. But then when I crashed to Earth and I met you...it was like the gods were smiling on me, giving me a second chance.” Ash reached out and squeezed his hand. Loki opened his eyes and smiled, softly. “Sorry if that sounds morbid.”

 

“No, it sounds terrifying,” Ash replied, calmly. “What sort of man was Odin if he made you feel like that?”

 

Loki glanced downwards. “I think deep down he could never let go of the fact I was Jotun, and they are forces to be feared.”

 

“Well, that’s not what I see when I look at you,” Ash insisted. “I mean, yes, when I first met you, you did scare me a bit, but that was even before I knew you were a Frost Giant, and I wasn’t _that_ scared. I could hold my own against you when I wanted to, couldn’t I? I stood up for myself plenty of times.”

 

“And you _are_ very attractive when you’re fierce,” Loki smiled, causing her to giggle.

 

“But you’re not a monster, Loki,” she added, firmly. “You’re not, no matter what Odin might think. _I_ see the real you, the one behind all the illusions.” Deftly, she wiped of syrup from the corner of his mouth. Loki smiled, mischievously, and licked her finger, causing her to giggle. “I thought you were raised to eat like a Prince, not a peasant, your Highness.”

 

“Sometimes I think you bring out the worst in me,” Loki replied, with a grin, “as well as the best. It’s funny how I can always be myself with you.”

 

With a sympathetic look, Ash reached up to kiss him, a warm tingling rippling through her as Loki cupped her face in one hand and pulled her closer, fingers stroking through her hair in a manner that was both soothing and sensual. She tried to pour as much reassurance and comfort into the kiss as possible, reminding him that she was still here, that she wouldn’t abandon him for anything.

 

“Careful,” she murmured, “you’ll be in serious danger of seducing me on the kitchen table.”

 

“Who says I don’t want to do that?” Loki teased.

 

Ash pushed him away with a giggle. “No, I need to finish these and then get dressed so I can get milk, we’re running low.”

 

Loki mock-sighed. “Ash, I can just-”

 

“No!” Ash laughed. “I can’t keep letting you get away with stealing through magic just because you want to keep me here to make love to me!”

 

He made a face at her. “Spoilsport.”

 

Ash shook her head. “I should never have taught you that word.” When she glanced up, though, Loki was smiling at her again and she knew that he had been joking.

 

“Maybe I should go with you,” he offered.

 

“No, you can stay here and clean up,” Ash insisted, pancakes eaten, as she pushed back her chair. “Oh, and the rabbits will need cleaning out, can you do that while I’m gone? Thanks,” she added before Loki could even speak, but her kissing his cheek before she went to get dressed reminded him why he did things like that, for her.

 

“Right,” he muttered, determinedly, getting up and going over to the run. It wouldn’t take long with magic, although what would take longer would be actually getting to the litter box because it seemed that whenever he put his hand into the run, the rabbits wanted to play with him, nudging up against his hand and nibbling his sleeve. He did his best to be firm with them, although sometimes he couldn’t help smiling at them. It was now six weeks since Easter and Ash loved them so much, constantly petting them and offering them little treats. They now had a few toys as well, small wooden ones they could nibble on to keep their teeth healthy and a few ball toys with bells in that they enjoyed nosing around or tossing between their paws, and Loki couldn’t help feeling that if he and Ash ever got as far as having children, this was how it would be.

 

But that was thinking way too far ahead in the future, he hadn’t even told her loved her yet, and they had plenty of time for things like that.

 

“See you soon,” Ash called, opening her front door. The gods were _not_ smiling on her today, however, as Mr Lewis was preparing his fishing kit ready for a weekend away at the top of the stairs, and as luck would have it, Ash caught her foot in the bag strap and tripped, tumbling down the flight of stairs leading to the landing with a yelp and landing hard on her shoulder.

 

“Ow!” she moaned, rubbing it as she sat up.

 

Mr Lewis threw open his flat door and glared down at her. “What the devil do you think you’re playing at, girl? You could have broken something!”

 

“I’m very aware of that, Mr Lewis,” Ash muttered, gritting her teeth against the pain.

 

The door of her own flat flew open as Loki hurried towards her and crouched beside her, his expression writ with concern. “Ash, are you alright?”

 

“I think so,” Ash murmured, moving her hand down to her wrist and trying to move it, although it was painful to do so.

 

“Learn to look where you’re going in future, Miss Gray,” Mr Lewis snapped, bending to retrieve his bag. “Do you have any idea how valuable half this equipment is?”

 

“Do you have any idea how valuable her _life_ is?” Loki countered, angrily, glaring at the man as he helped Ash into a sitting position.

 

Mr Lewis puffed up his moustaches. “Who the devil are _you?”_

 

“I’m the man telling you that you’re to treat her with a little more respect,” Loki snapped, rising to his feet. Even without a weapon or armour, he cut an intimidating figure, being at least half a foot taller than Mr Lewis, who was short by comparison. “Or else you’ll have me to answer to, you pathetic mortal!”

 

“Loki!” Ash whispered, urgently, as Mr Lewis tried to draw himself up to his full height, trying his best not to seem frightened of this stranger who had just materialised and interrupted one of his usual rants at Ash.

 

“She should learn to look where she’s going in future,” he stated, arrogantly, “then things like this wouldn’t happen!”

 

Loki shot out a hand and pinned the man to the wall by his throat. Ash felt her jaw drop as she struggled to her feet, watching Mr Lewis’s own feet paddling in the air since Loki had him pinned up higher than anyone could have anticipated.

 

 _“You_ should learn not to leave things where she can trip over them!” Loki hissed.

 

“Loki, don’t!” Ash grabbed his sleeve. “Please. Just let it go.”

 

If she hadn’t been looking at him so appealing at that minute, Loki might not have listened to her. As it was, he exhaled and dropped the very startled Mr Lewis back onto his feet. Ash groped for his hand, bringing him back to what was important, her wellbeing. Pulling himself together, Loki put an arm around her waist and helped her back into the flat, shooting Mr Lewis a murderous look in the process. The second they were back inside, Ash stumbled over to the sofa and tugged off her coat. It didn’t feel like anything was broken but it still hurt like hell, and she had banged her knee and her hip too, so practically the whole right side of her body was hurting.

 

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Loki asked, gently, sitting beside her.

 

“No, I’m in absolute agony, but I don’t think I need to go to hospital,” Ash answered, shaking her head. “Loki, please, you can’t react like that here. I know you were just standing up for me,” she added, quickly, as Loki opened his mouth to object, “and I appreciate that, but Mr Lewis could have you done for unlawful assault or something, you could get a reputation for being violent when you’re not.”

 

Loki scowled. “He’s an idiot who cared more about his belongings than your wellbeing, he deserved it.”

 

“I know he did, but...” Ash rubbed her shoulder and looked at him, “you just can’t do that to someone, even if they do deserve it. I mean, it’s nothing new, him shouting at me like that, but there are better ways of dealing with it than making threats.”

 

“Ash, I didn’t threaten him-”

 

“I know, but he could say that you did, and then you might not be allowed to stay here with me.”

 

Loki snorted. “Like _that_ would stop me.”

 

“Please, Loki,” Ash begged. “You’re very good at losing your temper easily, please, for me, can you try?”

 

“Ash, on Asgard, it’s a perfectly natural way of defending someone you care about if they’ve been hurt or dishonoured,” Loki replied.

 

“But you’re on Earth now,” Ash insisted. “And here we believe in-argh!”

 

Loki immediately moved closer to her as she winced. “What is it?”

 

“I don’t know what I’ve done,” Ash groaned, “but this pain just isn’t going away.”

 

Loki thought for a minute. “I can probably help.” He quickly moved to lean behind her and began to rub at her shoulder. Immediately, Ash felt a tingling sensation quickly replaced by warmth and she closed her eyes at his touch. “Is that helping?”

 

“Mm, yes...” Ash murmured.

 

“Go on, you believe in what?”

 

“What? Oh, yeah, we believe in the concept of live and let live.”

 

Loki frowned. “What does that mean?”

 

“You know, when someone does something to annoy you, instead of reacting with violence, you just ignore it and walk away, you get on with your life,” Ash replied, twisting a little to let him access her shoulder better.

 

“Ash, I couldn’t just walk away from that,” Loki insisted. “The man hurt you.”

 

“Yeah, but not on purpose,” Ash pointed out.

 

“That’s not the point-”

 

“Loki.” Ash turned to him, temporarily shifting his hand from her shoulder. She took a deep breath, ashamed to even admit what she had felt a few minutes ago. “You can be a bit scary when you’re like that.” She glanced at her feet. “You scared me. I didn’t know what was about to happen.”

 

“Ash...” Loki immediately wrapped her in a hug, pulling her back flush against his front. “Gods, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare _you.”_

 

“No, I know you didn’t,” Ash replied, snuggling her cheek into his shoulder. “It’s just...they say that sometimes people don’t know their own strength, I think you don’t know your own temper...if that makes sense.”

 

Loki nodded and exhaled into her hair. “Well, perhaps you’re right, perhaps I was a bit extreme. How’s your shoulder now?”

 

“Actually, everything feels a lot better,” Ash confessed. “Was that a healing spell you were using?”

 

Loki smiled. “The most complicated magic there is.” He kissed her before shifting out from behind her. “You stay here and recover, I’ll get the milk.”

 

Ash smiled sweetly at him as he kissed her...and then the second he had gone she realised that she had forgotten to give him the money to even buy the milk. Shaking her head, she leaned back in her seat, wondering if he could be persuaded to use that healing magic on her again tonight.

 

Loki was making his way back up the stairs with a carton of milk in one hand when Mr Lewis stepped out of his flat again, and turned white on seeing him. Loki, however, remained calm and offered the man an apologetic smile.

 

“Sorry for the way I reacted just now, I acted completely out of turn. Have a good day.”

 

Yes, Loki decided, stepping into the flat and leaving a very bewildered Mr Lewis staring after him in fear, revenge was definitely sweeter like this.


End file.
